Future Imperfect
by LoganAlpha30
Summary: Set 3 years after end of both Angel and Buffy season finales, about how things change and how they stay the same. Chapter 30 and Epilogue  up!
1. Default Chapter

FUTURE IMPERFECT  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created, like Hope and a few others.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 1-NOTHING EVER STAYS THE SAME  
  
  
  
Three years. It had been exactly three years to the day since they had left the town that had at first held so much promise for the both of them but had ended as pure purgatory. It was a place where they had done very little laughing and a great deal of hurting. Hurting themselves, each other, and seemingly anyone else that came across their path, him with his naivety and overzealousness, and her with her callous attitude towards anything other than her job of destiny and her unwillingness to ever let anyone even come close to seeing the real her. They had friends, if only for a short fleeting while, when they had left that purgatory of a town that had irrevocably seared the mark of failure on them both. They had left that town earlier of course but somehow they found that not matter how hard they tried they were brought back at the worst possible time. In the end they remembered fighting a large battle, one with the very fate of the world in the balance.  
  
  
  
They remembered little of the details of the fight only that in the end their side had won and the end of the world had been avoided, again. Much to their dismay, after the battle, a paltry amount of attention was paid to their wounds, with him being the only one at her bedside as she recovered from the brutal assault that she had endured. Indeed she had died during that last battle but like the phoenix of old the pain and suffering that she called a life only began a new after her death. She had been pulled back from that utter despair by him, a man that at one time she had reviled far worse than those that she killed with such zeal. But now she viewed him as her anchor in this world, the reason that she continued to live, the one that knew her better than anyone, one that she could tell anything to and ask anything of.  
  
  
  
They had at first only moved a few hundred miles away, mainly to stop and gather themselves, get their feet set under them, before moving on. Over the course of that first year they had so many addresses that after awhile it became so confusing that they just stopped sending any mail of any sort. Throughout that time they had taken any odd job that they could find, sure with his father dead in a freak explosion in England they truly weren't in any real need of money but the jobs kept their competitive spirits going and their shaky sense of honor intact. She had to always be on her guard, making sure that no one ever saw her use any of her heightened abilities, ones that had shaped her destiny in the past but now hung off of her like dead skin. He had used many explanations to calm the fears that people had about the jagged scar that marred his throat. Most of the time he simply told him that he had been awakened one night by a burglar and hadn't noticed the knife that the man carried until it was too late. Then she would jump in and say that she had rushed him to the emergency room and got him the help he needed. Of course it was all a lie, a tightly wound fabrication, but it was one that served them well.  
  
  
  
At the end of that first year they finally made one more large and giant leap in their location, making their trip complete as they settled into a nice lifestyle on the east coast, a short distance away from New York city. He had used some of the few remaining contacts in London that he possessed that had survived the bombing and put them to working getting him the paperwork that he needed to gain the right job. They had only been in their new house a couple of months when he had gotten on as the history professor and librarian of a local college. The school wasn't to terribly large but it was just large enough to satisfy them both. The work was the best paying that he had ever had, but he was especially pleased as his job fully utilized all of the knowledge that he had amassed over the years. In fact after reading through his resume and seeing him in action the dean had almost bent over backwards to get him the job. For her part she had found work as his teaching assistant and assistant librarian. It was true that she didn't completely love the work but ever since she had been in jail she had spent the time reading every book that she could find, soon finding out that she could channel the energy that once went into doing her old job, and had almost cost her everything, could be turned elsewhere. He had almost demanded that she was part of the deal when he was hired, if they wanted him then the school would also have to hire her as well.  
  
  
  
Feeling penned in at times she had found another job to fill the rest of her time, a job that at first she thought herself to have no chance at. But after a few days on the job she began to love her second job and often used it as a way of relaxing after a hard day put in at the office. She had gotten a job at a regional radio station and was the evening dj and radio show host.  
  
  
  
They had even picked up new names along the way, with neither one truly wanting to be found again and with the sincere want to put their old past behind them. So in that calling they gave up almost everything from that life when they stopped in to the county courthouse nearest their home and signed the required paperwork that went along with being married by a justice of the peace. While it was true that after she had been released from prison there had been relatively few romantic inklings between the two, but over the course of their time together after her release from prison and all of the time spent crossing the country their friendship had only intensified and deepened into love. The final act of actually going to the courthouse had been something that had taken months of careful discussion and planning to do. When they had gotten married however they had used their real names, but after that they swore to only use them while they were alone.  
  
  
  
They had kept tabs on how their old friends were faring back in the two cities that they refused to talk about. Neither one had been back to either place, except for a quick trip a few weeks earlier to see Dawn graduate high school, and partially to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary happened. They had made sure that none of their old friends saw them, with him going so far as to grow what he could of a beard and her looking the part of someone that no one ever thought that they would see her as. In that fact though she took great pride, because as she lay there on their king size bed with the most precious gift that they had ever received beside her and the evening sun ray's gently warming her, she realized that truly for the first time in her life she could say that she was happy.  
  
  
  
And that thing that made her truly happy was that she had a husband whom she loved and she knew without a doubt that he loved her. The little angel faced cherub lay on her back, staring up at the antique ceiling fan as its blades slowly wafted through the air, blowing a soft gentle breeze down onto mother and daughter. Hope Wyndam Pryce, their little one year old daughter and spitting image of her mother, had changed both their lives in ways they never imagined possible. She had realized that she was pregnant shortly after they had left their combined purgatory and truth be told they had both been shocked. At the time that they found out they were at a crossroads in their relationship, they had only slept together once before but as the doctor had told them, in agreement with her pessimistic side, that it only took once. They had been discussing whether or not they wanted their relationship to go much further, if they should just call the night they spent together a one time thing or if it would become a regular occurrence.  
  
  
  
When they found out their decision was made and they were irrevocably linked together forever. Her pregnancy had been an ordeal to remember. It hadn't been overly hard however because of who and more realistically what she was they had no idea how a normal pregnancy should proceed, what was normal for her and what wasn't was an ever open topic of discussion. She had almost completely ceased in her calling as one of the protectors of the world, figuring that with her death another had been called and they along with the one that she had competed against for years could handle it without her. Gone forever, or so she originally thought, were her days of wearing overly tight leather pants and any kind of small and revealing top. His routine had been changed drastically as well, he no longer could truly afford to spend all night researching at the various hidden libraries that they visited, he needed to be home with the woman that he loved, the woman that was carrying his child and perhaps the future protector of the world.  
  
  
  
So now she lay there, fresh out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around her, as she slowly and calmly brushed the kinks out of her hair and hummed a soothing lullaby to her daughter while she waited for him to get done with his research for the night. They had agreed on her name rather quickly, in fact the discussion had taken no more than a few minutes, for both new what this new life that they had created together meant. They had gotten the routine down pat; they'd go to class and drop little Hope off in daycare on the way and then after class he would pick Hope up and then bring her back to his classroom where while helping him with his work his secretary helped watch her. She knew that she had nothing to worry about form the secretary as he had said that in fact she reminded him of his mother.  
  
  
  
When they had returned to their shared purgatory for Dawn's graduation they knew that the inclusion of Hope was something that no one that was looking for them, if anyone truly was, would ever in a million years expect. And so her last thought of the night, as he sleepily staggered into their bedroom and gave his pride and joy a soft kiss as she fell asleep before sitting down on the bed beside her mother and giving her one, was that she wanted nothing to change what they had gained together.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Those same three years had a drastically different effect on those that they had left behind. Dawn had graduated high school and had been awarded a full ride to a respectable drama school in New York. Everyone had agreed that after the events of the last few years she definitely had the experience to draw out pretty much an emotion that she wanted, except for happiness. Sure she had received the good news that she was going to be an aunt the day before she had left for New York and was extremely ecstatic about becoming an aunt. But she had become the newest slayer, something that had been a source of both pride and fear for her and Buffy ever since Faith had died three years earlier. At first Buffy had forbidden her from training but in the end, and while Spike and Buffy were in Africa to try and locate the demon that had given Spike back his soul, after the two having agreed to start over in the aftermath of the final battle with the First and the harbingers, Dawn had begun slipping out of town to Los Angeles and to visit what was left of Angel Investigations.  
  
  
  
Dawn barely had time to take a shower after returning home from Los Angeles, desperately trying to wash the smells of the road and big city out of her hair before Buffy and Spike got home. They had left to locate the demon to ask a particular favor of him, hoping that in that favor would be the gift of a lifetime together. At first Dawn hadn't known whether or not she should call the rest of the Scooby's back together, Willow still lived with them but had begun contracting out her services as a witch shortly after the latest apocalypse had been averted and the slayers in training, of which only Kennedy had vehemently disapproved of leaving Sunnydale and Molly had only survived because when the First had finally attacked she was busy talking Spike's ear off about home, had traveled with Giles to England to be fully trained. Xander and Anya had finally patched things up, helped greatly by how he had almost died protecting her during the last battle with the First and now bore the scars to prove it. The pair had produced one son, much to Xander's delight, whose birth had ruined Dawn's junior prom because she was the only one home when Anya went into labor and had to take the ex-vengeance demon to the hospital. They had named him Christopher Rupert Harris, named after two men that had influenced both parents' lives. However Anya had to tell an extended story about her meeting with a woman who had been wronged by a man named Christopher. The woman had said that she wanted him to fall off the face of the Earth, but what she didn't know was that Anya had never cast any spell but instead gotten King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to okay a voyage to where they felt was the edge of the Earth. Needless to say both Anya and the woman were surprised when the man came back, and that year went down in history, for it was 1492.  
  
  
  
And so when the front door opened and Buffy and Spike strode through to find Anya, Dawn, Willow, Chris, and Xander sitting in the living room waiting up for them it was a joyous scene. Spike and Buffy had ventured to Africa and found the demon that Spike had seen to regain his soul in the hopes that it could finish the job, and make him what Buffy truly deserved, to them by making him human. At first nothing seemed to have changed about Spike, but then Anya had noticed the small bit of color in his cheeks and had gone so far as to lick her thumb and rub it against his cheek to check if it was some kind of makeup. Over pizza Buffy sat them all down and explained their whole trip, with what happened inside the cave explained by a tired looking Spike. They explained that when they located the cave and found the demon that it refused to turn Spike fully human as it said that it wasn't possible for it to turn him fully human, but it could do the next best thing. And so they were told that Spike had agreed and after a set of grueling tests that he said made those to get his soul back look like child's play he had been given his reward.  
  
  
  
At first those gathered in the slayers living room had stared at them with confused looks on their faces. Seeing there confusion Buffy had quickly put there minds at ease by explaining that while Spike wasn't now completely human he was as close as he was ever going to get, which just so happened to be as close to humanity as she herself was, complete with all the associated powers and abilities. And so that trip had started the beginning of what Dawn would later describe as the happiest time of her life, even amongst the next few almost apocalypse's that came across their path.  
  
  
  
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In those same three years Angel Investigations had undergone more than a few changes. Angel was still at the head of the business but now the Hyperion had become the home of the entire payroll. Angel, Connor, Cordelia, Gunn, Fred all lived there along with the new recruits Gwen, who had joined after the big fight because she felt that Angel and company were her best chance to become normal again, Lorne, who had opened up another bar nearby, one that only Angel frequented mainly to try and keep the establishment from being trashed again, and Liam O'Connor, Cordelia and Connor's son. After their one night together, an event that Cordelia had tried desperately to forget about while Connor would just clam up when anyone asked about it, Cordelia had found out she was pregnant and had later given birth to Angel's grandson. The young child had been named so in honor of the man that was his father and the man, or truth be told vampire, that Cordelia had always wished was his father. Even though Angel and Connor had long since made up, for the most part, there was still and most likely always would be a lingering seed of anger and even a little hatred running between them.  
  
  
  
They had been saved from being evicted out of the Hyperion because of a little borrowing that Angel and Fred did after the defeat of the Beast and the First. While Wolfram and Hart had been busy sorting out what to do Angel and Fred had snuck into the building and redirected and -borrowed- as much money as they could, enough in fact to keep the group in the Hyperion for decades to come, and fix up the place nicely. They had survived through the three years but there was still a piece of their family missing, one that Fred had always hoped would one day be filled again. And so because of that none of them thought anything different about Lorne's latest reading, one that entailed a new apocalypse, one that sent Angel and Gwen directly to it's source, New York city.  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 1 


	2. Convergence

FUTURE IMPERFECT  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.  
  
CHAPTER 2-CONVERGENCE  
  
  
  
Saturday Morning. One of the two days out of the entire week, with the other being Sunday, that her little family got all to themselves, with no one asking for help on an assignment or the Dean asking her if she and her husband would mind having dinner with a visiting scholar. All during the week their nights were spent either at class, studying, or doing something with Hope. Every great once in a while they would help out someone in need that had a problem that was supernatural in nature. But they had made sure to keep their role only to doing the research, for both had agreed that they wanted to keep everything that was even remotely supernatural away from their daughter. This Saturday morning dawned cool and foggy. By the time she woke up it was well past nine, something that momentarily threw her into a state of panic that she never knew herself capable of. Without thinking, or stopping to put any clothes on, she threw back the covers and tore through their small house until she heard something that at the same time sent a wave of relief through her and a little bit of confusion. From the next room she could hear the beginning of the television program that Wesley and Hope tried to always watch together. While it was true that she was far too young to actually grasp anything about it the show did seem to be able to capture Hope's attention and it did set a time every week that father and daughter, if not the entire family, could be together and have some quiet time. Hope spent that time gazing gleefully at the screen while Wesley would usually be grading papers or essays and Faith would either be helping him or trying to feed Hope, but never a combination of the two. She had tried that once, but had quickly discovered that the two didn't mix when Wesley would have to explain to his students why their papers had baby food stains on them.  
  
  
  
She stood silent for a few seconds, naked as the day she was born, in their kitchen trying to decide what to do, whether to storm into the warm and light filled living room and demand a reason that she had been allowed to sleep in or to go back to bed. In the end she chose the latter, but soon found that she couldn't sleep and so she got up again and slipped into her comfortable clothes. Clothes that a half dozen or so years earlier she wouldn't have been caught dead in, and old well worn pare of panties covered up by a warm pair of Wesley's sweatpants, some of his extra thick wooly socks, an old bra, and one of Wesley's old sweatshirts topped off with putting her hair up in one loose ponytail and putting on no makeup. In truth she felt the most comfortable on Saturday mornings dressed like this, because it meant that no matter the mistakes, the horrors, that she had committed in her past she had atoned for them and they were all in her past, and this was her future, full of hope and promise.  
  
  
  
As she began to walk back through the halls to the kitchen and then the living room she self appraised the building that had for the first time in her life truly become her home. When they had moved in the entire house looked like an old couple had been living there for years. And although Bob Vila he wasn't Wesley took it upon himself to transform the building into their new home, with Faith at times pitching in where she could, in between classes and conferences at the college. At first their home had taken on more the look of almost a library, with little style or flair but with a great deal of comfortable looking furniture all over. It hadn't taken long for Faith to rebel against that and in the end they had agreed to do each room together until they were both satisfied with the outcome. And so they had moved much faster after that and ended up with a place that they both were glad to call home. Wesley had his study in one of the larger rooms on the second floor with the other rooms being used up mainly just as storage with one room left made up as a guest bedroom and another left almost empty, waiting for, whether either would ever admit it or not, would be Hope's room when she was old enough if not one of the rooms downstairs or a room for a new addition to the family. Wesley had been able to retrieve almost all of his books from the Hyperion without Angel or any of the others even knowing, leaving them only a note saying that he needed the books and was sorry for taking them along with wishing them the best in their future endeavors. At first Faith had hated the study, for it reminded her to much of the stuffy and rigid lifestyle that she and later Wesley had rebelled from. But still Wesley found comfort in the smell of the books, the thought of having all of that knowledge close at hand, and even though he hadn't admitted it the books were a connection to his past in Los Angeles, the last place that he had ever thought of as home, after England. Faith had never been one for reading had over time ended up spending almost as much time in Wesley's study as he had, her nose into one book or another even some of Wesley's ancient tomes as she had begun to try and teach herself to read some of the ancient languages that Wesley could, at times spending hours looking up information on the internet while Wesley searched through his books, with Hope in her swing in between them. Faith wanted more than anything to get away from the stereotypical view of her that she thought everyone who used to know her had, of a young woman that shot first and asked questions later, having little if any care for studying and researching, thinking of them as a waste of time.  
  
  
  
The kitchen on the ground floor had been at first very small but even though neither was truly even close to being a good cook they had decided that they'd both need to learn, a feat that took a good long while and an oven and several burnt meals later they could now actually cook, if only well enough for themselves and Hope. Off of the back of the kitchen, and through a wall of many windows highlighted by two large mostly glass doors that led out to the deck. The deck had everything on it from a pool to a place to entertain, something that they didn't do very often, and a large grill that was more for show than for anything else. Hope slept with them in their room, the third largest room on the ground floor after the kitchen and the living room, in a little basinet that sat right beside Faith's side of the bed. Their bedroom at first could almost have been cut in two, with all of his things in one closet and all of hers in the other. But over time they had found a way to merge their things, with whatever was left over like almost everything that reminded either of them of Wesley's days as a watcher or Faith's younger party hearty days being boxed up and jammed into the attic. Now they had divided the closets into two divisions, in one closet Wesley and Faith had fit all of what they coined their work and dress up clothes while in the other closet they placed all of their more comfortable clothes. Even though they no longer actively fought the good fight like they previously had Wesley still kept his guns, locked of course, in the nightstand near his side of the bed. Luckily he had yet to ever use them and had only taken them out of the nightstand so that Faith could get comfortable enough with them to be able to defend herself and Hope in situations in which all of her slayer powers were of little or no use.  
  
  
  
The living room had at first been a small room with only a few small windows, but Wesley and Faith had knocked down a wall or two and replaced the few small windows with a large bank of windows, making it so that in the morning the rising sun would fill the room with light and warmth. They had electronically decked out their living room well enough that they were the envy of the few friends that they had, but whereas most would expect them to have a cabinet full of various types of movies that fit their taste they mostly had children's movies for Hope at the moment and when she would get older. They had relegated the upper shelves of the cabinet to their movies, which ran the genre gambit, housing everything from documentaries about topics pertaining to his studies into ancient cultures to Faith's action movies and drama's. There were a few comedies and romantic movies but they had all been put in the back or far to one side.  
  
  
  
The basement now mostly consisted of a mud room, storage for winter clothes, and a space for the washer and dryer. Wesley and Faith took turns doing the laundry and each used the time while they were waiting to catch up on any small bit of reading that they had missed or it gave Faith just enough time to try and get Hope to go to sleep. Luckily Wesley and Faith had been able to carpet enough of the basement so that it looked relatively close to being normal. There was a small garage attached to the house that held two vehicles, Wesley's SUV and Faith had at first gotten a sporty car for herself but then when she found out that she was pregnant with Hope she had traded it in for a more responsible and safer car. At first after that Faith had sworn that one day she'd get the sports car back, but as time went on she had made that promise less and less. Attached to the back of the house garage was a much smaller one that housed all of their lawn care supplies, from a trio of mowers to weed whips and various bags of fertilizer and insect repellant.  
  
  
  
The only other building on the property was a large barn that was partially hidden in the tree line that helped to frame their property. Like the house very little of the barn could be seen from the road through the trees and even then most people never though twice about what transpired beyond the front wall of trees. In fact Wesley had turned the barn into something that Faith had also never truly had, a fully equipped place to train. While it was true that she hardly ever went patrolling anymore she did do it on occasion and so she had to be up to the task. So from the outside the barn looked like your normal run of the mill old barn. But from the inside it looked more like a gym, complete with a small set of weights that helped to keep her in shape as well as plenty of room to spar. Faith had used this space to quickly get back into shape after Hope had been born, along with the three mile run that she tried to do every morning, even going so far as to have Wesley accompany her every so often. Out in the barn it was actually quite warm most nights and so Hope had spent more than a few nights sleeping beside her parents after they had exhausted themselves in a training session.  
  
  
  
When Faith had discovered that a friend of hers, Callie Freeman, had been abused by her boyfriend she had taken Callie in and began to teach her how to defend herself. Wesley had initially wanted to call the police but Faith had talked him out of it as she had other ideas of how to resolve the situation. In the end Callie had learned well enough and had ended up breaking her boyfriend's nose and his arm in two places. After that the boyfriend had left Callie alone, as did many other people. Since then Callie had become close enough to Faith and Wesley to serve as babysitter for Hope, allowing at first Wesley and Faith to simply catch up on missed sleep. But then over time they had been able to actually go out to dinner again.  
  
  
  
Wesley hadn't made many actual friends, sure there were his colleagues at the college but he knew them better as acquaintances than friends. His ability, as well as Faith's, to make friends had been hampered by their desire to keep as many aspects of their lives before their move to upstate New York a secret as they could. In fact Callie only knew very few details about Faith and Wesley other than a few things past their names, Alexander and Elizabeth Windholm along with their daughter Hope. She knew that Alex(Wesley) had been born and raised outside of London before moving to America to find his own lot in life and had met Beth(Faith) in a nightclub in Los Angeles. They had fallen in love shortly after and had waited until they had both been through college to get married. Of course most of what Callie knew was lies, but there had been a little bit of truth spread throughout that so that Faith and Wesley didn't feel to terribly bad about lying so much. The only friend that Wesley could think of that he had the same relationship with that Faith had with Callie was Nicholas Burton. Nick worked as one of the school's librarian, charged with the task of protecting the school's oldest and rarest books, many of which ended up being books that so far Wesley had no idea why the school even had them. The books were very similar to the books that Wesley had used when he had worked with Angel back in Los Angeles. For his own part Nick had done more than simply catalog and protect the books, going so far as to actually try to decipher some of them, as long as the assistant Dean or the head of the library didn't know about it, as both of them had repeatedly warned him against doing anything with the books other than assure their preservation. But that had done little to put a damper on his curiosity, and many a night Wesley had spent many hours down in the library's vault pouring over the few tomes that Nick could sneak out of the vault.  
  
  
  
Six months after Callie had taken care of her problem with her abusive boyfriend Faith had played matchmaker and had set Nick up with Callie. At first it seemed to be a disaster, but after a rough night in which Callie and Nick had ran through the rain and hid out in the library to avoid what they thought were a group of dangerously overzealous Halloween enthusiasts who in turn were actually true vampires, did the outlook change. At first Wesley hadn't noticed anything different that next day, but then he noticed that both Nick and Callie were still wearing what they had worn the night before and after more than a few knowing looks from Faith had figured out what had happened during the night. A few weeks after that Nick had begun to help Callie when she babysat Hope.  
  
  
  
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Angel and Gwen had left the very night that Lorne had told them about what was in his latest reading. They had initially thought about driving the whole way but Gwen had protested mightily and Angel wasn't to excited about the prospect of having to black out the cars windows and dodge from one small patch of shade to another, and so they had chartered a small private plane, with some of the money that Gunn and Fred had borrowed during their little burglary spree, and were soon well on their way to New York City with them expecting to arrive either sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning, which in turn ended up being the same Saturday morning that Faith had been allowed to oversleep. As if the news of an impending Apocalypse hadn't been enough Angel was also desperately trying to come to grips with the little surprise that Buffy and Spike had sprung on him during their visit only a few days before, that the pair were expecting their first child and that a wedding between them would most likely happen the first chance that they got. At first Angel had been beyond furious at the news, wanting to storm over and rip Spike's throat out, but he had been stopped dead in his tracks by the look of complete and utter joy, peace, and happiness on Buffy's face. He hadn't seen a look like that on her face in a very long time. It took him most of the flight to finally begin to come to terms with the news, feeling that in the end what really mattered to him that Buffy was happy, whether it be with him or Spike. And as long as Spike kept Buffy happy then Angel would refrain from doing any serious bodily harm to the former vampire. Cordelia had been overjoyed at the news as she hoped that with Buffy having Spike's baby that Angel would finally be free of Buffy and she'd finally have that second chance with Angel that she had been dreaming of. But Gwen had been a giant roadblock in that case and over the years she and Cordelia had tried to get in and stay in Angel's good graces while trying to shove the other out.  
  
  
  
Gwen had kept most of her money, saying that since she had stopped being a thief for hire and begun fighting the good fight that she'd need the money, or as she oh so deftly put it, "A girl's gotta eat." Although even Connor knew that Gwen's statement had nothing to do with food. Angel and the others had tried there best to not have to ask Gwen for any handouts or loans. Luckily for them the vampire and demon activity in Los Angeles had stayed pretty constant and they had all established a comfortable enough lifestyle for themselves while making sure that Connor was enrolled in school and that Liam's education was completely paid for even when preschool was still a few years off.  
  
  
  
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Initially Spike and Buffy had sworn to Dawn that they'd let her relocate to drama school in New York without their help. But shortly after Dawn had left Buffy and Spike had packed their things and after a quick visit to Los Angeles to see Angel and the others they had sped off towards New York, intending to be there if and when Dawn became homesick or got into trouble. For even though Dawn was the new slayer Spike and Buffy still felt overprotective of her. Their secret reason for going was also to help and make sure that Dawn was able to get people around her that she could trust, maybe even enough to tell them about who she really was and about everything that entailed.  
  
  
  
They had only gotten to Texas before Buffy began having disturbing nightmares, but she was having trouble discerning whether or not the nightmares were like her other prophetic slayer dreams, whether they were just your normal run of the mill nightmares, or whether the nightmares were somehow connected to her unborn child. Meanwhile in New York Dawn had already settled into her dorm room and after some time had finally let one of her roommates that was from the area show them around. So she thought nothing of it when they drove past a property with a line of trees out front that hid behind them a small house and a barn nestled back in the tree line.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 2 


	3. Sleepy Saturdays and Early Arrivals

FUTURE IMPERFECT  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I've created, like Hope, Nick, and Callie.  
  
CHAPTER 3-Sleepy Saturdays and Early Arrivals  
  
  
  
Peaceful and serene. Those two simple words very easily described the day that Faith, Wesley, and Hope had after such a promising start. After finishing his class work Wesley had turned off the television and spread some of the various toys that he had bought on the floor for Hope to play with. In their intense fervor to raise their daughter right, free of all of the fears and dangers that had faced them during their own childhood, from the intense pressure that Wesley had put under to begin to learn the ways of the Watchers Council and for Faith the nightmares of watching her mother drink herself into a drunken stupor, Wesley and Faith had tried to keep from repeating their parents mistakes. But his Watcher training had gotten the better of him and Wesley had purchased a great deal of toys that were specifically educational toys while Faith had tried to balance those out with fun toys of her own, which ended up being toys that she had wished that she could have had as a child. It ended up that Hope had more toys than she knew what to do with, as on more than one occasion Faith had noticed that for several minutes at a time Hope would just sit in front of her toys, unmoving, as if trying to figure out just which toy to play with. Like most sleepy Saturday's Faith had curled up on the couch beside Wesley and watched as Hope play with her toys close by. She had to remain on alert however as from past experience she had discovered that Hope could get herself into trouble in almost the blink of an eye, much to Faith and Wesley's chagrin. Hope had to be saved more than once from sticking one of her saliva soaked fingers into a light socket or falling down the stairs. But for Wesley and Faith they were glad that problems such as these were the ones that they were facing in the raising of their child instead of demons attacking the house at all odd hours of the night and vampires lurking about the premises, just waiting for a chance to drain the daughter of a former slayer and watcher.  
  
  
  
They spent a good portion of the day snuggled up together on the couch, Wesley reading one of his ancient texts while Faith alternated between watching Hope and knitting. At first Faith had vehemently refused when Wesley had asked her to get a hobby that didn't include wielding sharp objects and putting her life in danger every night. She had struck upon knitting by pure happenstance, originally intending to take a random computer class Faith had wandered into a knitting circle. From the get go Faith had denied any interest in the activity but after awhile Wesley had begun to find balls of yarn and other knitting supplies stashed around the house. When he had finally confronted Faith about she had confessed and admitted that for some unfathomable reason knitting helped calm her down and that she actually kind of liked it, plus of course there was the added bonus of working with sharp objects, for Faith still had to have that sense of danger, however small, in her work.  
  
  
  
As the day wore on and morning became afternoon Faith picked Hope up while humming the beginnings of a lullaby and after a quick nod Wesley's way she slowly trekked back through the house to their bedroom. Continuing to hum the soothing tone she laid Hope down on her back in the middle of the bed before carefully sitting down next to her, with one leg carefully left hanging off the edge. As Faith continued to hum the lullaby and watch her daughter drift off to sleep her mind began to wander. Who would ever believe that Faith, the slayer that used to make picking up men a game, would ever settle down, let alone raise a family. There had been one that although he had never admitted it truly wanted her to be happy, or more truthfully the best that she could be, he had seemed to actually care about her, and after his death he had been the only one to reassure her that it wasn't her that was crazy but the world. To this day she still kept a small picture of him on the dresser that sat against the wall just off the foot of their bed. He had intended to ascend to a higher form, and had done it for a brief time, before Buffy and her friends had blown the school up, right along with him.  
  
  
  
She could still remember how it felt after waking up from the coma and walking around wandering if she truly was awake or whether the world had gone crazy, or perhaps she was hallucinating. She had felt like a small dingy in a hurricane whose anchor chain had been broken, sending her into the maelstrom. Her actions soon after figuring out what had happened still screamed at her from the shadows, intending to never let her past ever truly slip away, no matter how much she wanted it to. A lone, solitary tear slid down her cheek as she turned back to watch Hope's small chest rise and fall. "I'm going to do better by you," was the thought that flashed through Faith's mind before settling fully into her consciousness. As gently as she could, hoping not to wake Hope, Faith began to lightly and gently run her finger over Hope's tiny hand, trying to keep from tearing up at only the third right thing she had ever done. The two previous things that she had done right were when she had turned herself into the police and then fallen in love and married the man that she had almost killed. A voice from behind soon snapped her out of her musings.  
  
  
  
"Is our little princess asleep," Wesley whispered as loudly as he dared from the doorway as he hoped to not wake Hope, because he knew that while it was easy to get their daughter to sleep she had apparently inherited her hearing from her mother and would often wake up at the slightest sound. Faith had once even bet humorously that while sleeping Hope could hear a pin drop and wake up to see what had happened.  
  
  
  
"She's sleeping like a little angel," Faith whispered back over her shoulder as she cast Wesley a welcome and happy smile.  
  
  
  
"She is a little angel, one that we will spend the rest of our lives wondering how we ever were deemed good enough to have her in our lives," Wesley whispered sweetly with a hint of a smile on his lips as he lightly stepped into the room and walked over to stand beside the bed. With another step he was situated directly behind Faith.  
  
  
  
"I keep thinking that one of these days.," Faith started to say in a somber whisper before she felt Wesley's hands reassuringly on her shoulders.  
  
  
  
"That'll never happen dear, we're her parents and we'll protect her from making all of the mistakes that we made," Wesley whispered back supportively before he leaned down and softly kissed the top of her head, taking in the many pleasant scents that greeted him.  
  
  
  
"Are you still going to tell her about the beasties that go bump in the night when she's old enough," Faith whispered with a forlorn look on her face and in her eyes as she lifted her chin and gazed up into her husband's eyes.  
  
  
  
"Faith.we agreed on this, we'll tell her all about vampires and demons.when she's old enough, I don't want her to run into a vampire or demon someday and be completely ignorant about it, plus there's the possibility that she could be a potential slayer," Wesley whispered back with as forceful yet lovingly as he could.  
  
  
  
"I don't want our daughter to be the slayer, she deserves a better life than that," Faith whispers sadly as she gently slides off of the edge of the bed and turns into Wesley's waiting arms. "And I don't want to turn out like Joyce, always worrying about whether or not her daughter's going to come home at night," she continued with a slight look of guilt on her face before she buried her face into Wesley's chest, glad that he was there.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry Faith, whatever comes our way, whatever apocalypse rears its ugly head, whatever problem arises.we'll get through it, together," Wesley softly whispered back as he held Faith close, glancing briefly out the window at a world that was far more dangerous than most people even knew.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
The small plane taxied down the runway before coming to a stop within a short distance of a waiting car. When the door opened two people stepped out, or more correctly one two hundred and fifty year old vampire with a soul and a woman that could be described as a human lighting bolt. Because they had arranged everything well in advance they had arrived in New York shortly after the sun had gone down, thus allowing Angel to move about freely without having to run from one ever growing shadow to another or make a mad dash to the care with his coat pulled up over his head. Angel and Gwen made their way to the car and Gwen got in and Angel was about to get in when he stopped, turned back to look towards the city and stared with a reminiscing look on his face, as if he was remembering events of days gone by. "What is it, what do you see," Gwen stubbornly exclaimed as she noticed that Angel hadn't immediately followed her into the car. With all of the trouble with Connor and Cordelia Gwen had been overjoyed at the chance to spend so much time alone with Angel, hoping once and for all to win the tug of war match between herself and the former cheerleader, with Angel as the prize.  
  
  
  
"It's just.it's changed so much, all the skyscrapers.," Angel started to say with a far off look of fondness on his face before his gaze fell on the giant black hole that had situated itself in the place where two great glistening towers had fallen and so many innocents had died. He fought hard to keep from letting the sadness that was consuming his soul consume him as well, but had Gwen been paying close attention she would have seen his knuckles become even paler than they already were, if not become a sickly shade of white. He tried to look away but Angel felt his gaze seemingly locked onto those two empty spaces in the sky, his memories of that day suddenly came flooding back.  
  
  
  
He had just barely beat the sun back to the Hyperion, after a long night of beating information out of every contact that he had, when he had walked in with a large grin spread across his face. All that was before he caught sight of Cordelia, looking very small and defenseless, with a sad faced Wesley by her side, as she sat by the radio with tears streaming down her cheeks and the most lonely and vulnerable look on her face. He had quickly rushed to her side, fearing that either a demon must have attacked and someone was hurt very badly or that she had been turned down for another movie role. Through her sobs she guided him to listen to the radio broadcast, and after turning it up and listening for a few excruciating seconds Angel felt the demon in him jump with joy and begin to silently celebrate, but his soul had begun to weep for the innocents lost and Angel quickly retreated back to his room before the sadness had overtaken him.  
  
  
  
"Hey.Angel.c'mon we don't have all night," Gwen suddenly shouted as she reached over and after removing her glove sent a powerful enough jolt into Angel to shake him out of his stupor.  
  
  
  
"Gwen..," Angel shouted back as the pain of the jolt began to quickly subside before he reluctantly got into the car and shut the door. "Was that really necessary," Angel started up again with a subdued look of anger on his face as he glared over at Gwen, who started the car and then took off.  
  
  
  
"Got ya in here didn't it," Gwen shot back with her classic smirk etched onto her face as she sat back in her seat and pressed the accelerator down even farther.  
  
  
  
"Just drive," Angel muttered with his usual brooding scowl etched on his face as he thought about it for a second before putting his seatbelt on and then staring out the window.  
  
  
  
"You're loads of fun ya know that.I thought getting you away from the bitch queen would loosen you up a bit.silly me," Gwen said back with an uncaring mask on her face. But Angel had known Gwen long enough to know that usually when she made a remark like that she hid the hurt and the fear behind that mask. A mini debate raged on in his mind as to exactly what to say back to her, if anything, before he finally settled on what to say back, something along the lines of an apology that would get a dialogue going between them. He hated to admit it but between himself and Gwen there stood none such relationship roadblocks that stood between himself and Cordelia. No Connor, no Liam, and certainly no old feelings of needing to protect the friend of a past love. But when he finally opened his mouth his pessimistic nature over rid his apology speech and all that came out was, "Just drive."  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Since becoming human Spike, who now went by William when he met someone new, had only had a few cigarettes. Mainly because every time he got even the inkling, let alone a craving, for a cigarette Buffy seemed to be able to read his thoughts and would just turn and look at him with a particular look on her face that told him that the possibility of him getting one was next to nothing. Most of those that he had smoked had been ones that he had borrowed from people when Buffy wasn't with him, but try as he might she had seemed able to tell if he had smoked and the look on her face made him uncomfortable. Shortly after the defeat of the First Spike had permanently moved into Buffy's house, starting out with a cot in the basement before finally after many months moving upstairs to share Buffy's room with her. During that time he had taken it upon himself to completely alter the bathroom where he had tried to force himself on Buffy. He had changed almost everything about it, right down to the different colored tiles and different wallpaper.  
  
  
  
With now two, three before Dawn left, slayers in town the vampire and demon population of Sunnydale had diminished considerably and Buffy had been able to take nights off and relax. Spike had ended up getting a job as a writer, which fit his schedule perfectly because he could write whenever he wanted and still be there for Buffy and Dawn when they or anyone else needed him. He had been prodded into it one night after Kennedy had made a remark, after listening to him share a memory from his past, about how well he told the story and that he should write some of his adventures down. Buffy still worked as a guidance counselor at the high school, but with the reducing numbers of vampires and demons in town she had been able to take on more duties such as teaching a self defense class for women at the local rec. center and helping out with the cheerleading squad, thinking of it as a way of giving back to her former pastime.  
  
  
  
Shortly after he had begun to start writing Spike had prodded Giles into getting him the paperwork that he'd need to have an identity other than as a century and a half old vampire with a soul. Giles had returned to England to restart the Watchers council and had, on a rare occasion, asked for Buffy and Spike's assistance with a problem that he was facing. That assistance had even gone so far as Buffy and Spike actually flying to England and joining Giles in his pursuits, leaving Dawn, as the new slayer, back in Sunnydale to watch over the hellmouth. Luckily for everyone concerned nothing yet had come about that Dawn and the few friends of hers that knew what was really going on couldn't handle. Once Spike and Buffy had been at the airport about ready to board a plane back to Sunnydale to help Dawn with a problem when she had called them and told them that the problem had been taken care of and they no longer needed to come. For his part Giles had begun to think of Spike almost as the son he never had, being influenced greatly by the affects that the vampire later turned human had on Buffy.  
  
  
  
While in England the last time Spike and Buffy had spent some time checking up on Molly and the other slayers in training that had accompanied Giles back to England, making sure that everything was going okay. By the time that they returned home both Buffy and Spike had seen enough to feel that if anything happened to either Buffy or Dawn that the world was in good hands. And so that judgment had made it easier for them to leave Sunnydale and make the trek to New York to help Dawn get settled into college life.  
  
  
  
By the time Gwen and Angel's plane landed in New York Spike and Buffy were still headed east and had made as few a stops along the way as they could, trying to not stay anywhere to long and to get to see Dawn before anyone could spoil their surprise. Neither had any inkling or indication that the small trip of surprise that they had embarked on would end up once again deciding the fate of the world.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Saturday nights were not open for Faith however, as it was one of the nights that she made the short trek into the city to do her radio show. While she was doing the show it fell to Wesley to watch over and care for Hope and Wesley didn't take his duties lightly. Often time Faith would come home only to see Wesley sitting either at the computer with Hope in his lap regaling her with one bit of information after another or else she'd find the two asleep on the couch. In the case of the former she'd jokingly scold Wesley for trying to scare their daughter by filling her head with useless knowledge, and if that didn't work she'd go to the old standby and remind him that she was barely a year old and wasn't ready for all that information. In the latter case she'd have to decide whether or not to wake them or just put a blanket over them and then head off to bed herself.  
  
  
  
On Sunday mornings the Windholm family always went to church, partially to keep up their public image of a regular run of the mill family, with absolutely nothing to hide. Faith had never really cared very much for religion but had to admit that while at church she did feel abnormally calm and the usual urges that she got were oddly quiet. Wesley on the other hand enjoyed the time as a place to calm down, cool off, and to if nothing else, get a load off of his mind and think things through. After church they almost always ended up being asked out or in to lunch by one couple or another, as the new couple in the church, which was a large one, and area everyone wanted to get to know them. And later that day when Wesley made a quick stop by the market to pick up some more diapers for Hope and a few knickknacks for Faith and himself to use both at work and at home he failed to notice the finely dressed woman that walked out just as he was walking in. Had he been closer to her he most likely would have heard her mumbling about how angry she was at a certain two hundred and fifty year old vampire that had barely said two words to her since they had arrived in New York the night before. And that evening, when he and Faith caught a lucky break and Nick and Callie were able to watch Hope, he only rolled his eyes as a group of ecstatic young woman, bubbling over about the movie that they had just seen and how the lead actor reminded her of and old friend that would watch over her when she was younger and had an addiction to the soap opera Passions.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 3 


	4. Just Another Manic Monday

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for Hope, Callie, and Nick.**

**CHAPTER 4- JUST ANOTHER MANIC MONDAY**

Monday morning.  The one morning that filled Faith with both annoyance, excitement, and a shred of fear.  The annoyance came from the undeniable fact that she'd have to get out of her nice warm bed where both the man that she loved and her little angel were both a simple arm's length away to try and cook breakfast before rushing Hope off to the sitter and herself and Wesley to class.  The excitement stemmed from, as much as she hated to admit, the time spent in class with Wesley and his students, helping him out when he needed it and the various games that she would play with some of his male students, flirt with them just enough that it was still fun without going to far and doing something that she'd regret for the rest of her life.  For even though she was married she still enjoyed flirting with men every once in a while, taking the most pleasure in the looks on their faces after they found out that she was happily married and they had no chance.  A few hadn't taken it so well and then her slayer skills came in handy, usually resulting in a broken nose or a broken arm for the one that dared pursue her any further.  Wesley knew about her actions of course and as such she had kept them brief, but not letting him forget it when a female student of his batted her eyes or flirted with him.  

The shred of fear, that was always in the back of her mind as well as Wesley's, was that one day most likely when they least expected it someone from their past would appear one day and blow their cover, bringing about all of the horrors and fears that admittedly they had both run away from.  In fact they both held that fear with Wesley more than once pulling Faith and Hope into an aisle of a supermarket because he thought he had seen someone that hey had used to know.  Most of the time their fears had been unfounded and they tried their best to ignore the odd looks people had given them.  On one occasion however they had almost been found out when Faith had to quickly turn her cart around and then resort to trying to act very interested in the cereals in front of her as Xander and Anya walked through the aisle, with Anya busy asking Xander about where they were going next on their honeymoon.  But luckily for Faith they hadn't noticed her and she had quickly paid for her items and left the store, hiding behind Wesley's SUV until after Xander and Anya had left.

So on this day, like the many others before it, Faith slipped out of bed slowly and went about taking care of Hope.  While she was trying to feed Hope breakfast Faith could hear Wesley whistling a catchy tune while he shaved.  By the time Faith was done feeding Hope and walking back towards their bedroom to find something for her to where Faith could hear the tranquil sound of the shower running, and she had to fight back the urge to simply lay Hope on her back on the bed and strip off all of her clothes and jump into the shower with Wesley for a little early morning fun.  Faith had just laid out Hope's clothes for the day when Wesley came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his wet hair all a mess.  

"Leave any hot water for me," Faith joked with a happy smile on her face as she worked a sock on to Hope's left foot.  

"I'm not sure…I guess you're just going to have to find out for yourself," Wesley said lovingly as he gave Faith a quick peck on the cheek before he walked over towards the closet.  

"You do this every morning you know Wes, you take all of the hot water and force me to freeze my as...but off…," Faith started to say with a light scowl of anger before she caught her speech just in time and changed the word that she needed to because she didn't want Hope to hear. As he opened the closet door and began to take out the suit that he was going to wear for that day Wesley softly chuckled to himself as he remembered how hard it had been for Faith to curb her use of most of her colorful language.  At first the task had been undertaken to help keep attention away from them, mostly on a trial basis, but then when Hope had been born it had become a necessity.  

"I fail to see the problem…," Wesley said with a happy and slightly joking smirk on his face as he laid down the dark blue suit, Faith's favorite, that he had picked out onto the bed beside Hope, but far enough away so that she couldn't reach over and latch onto it.  When he turned back around Wesley was struck in the back of his head by a well aimed and well thrown sock. 

"You hear that honey, daddy likes letting mommy take ice cold showers while he hogs all the hot water…bad daddy," Faith said with a mock pout on her face as she mostly held back a smirk and leaned over and lightly rubbed noses with Hope, who erupted in a short fit of giggles that soon spread to both Faith and Wesley.

"Don't listen to mommy Hope…she's just cranky this morning," Wesley joked with a mock look of indifference on his face as he walked around the bed and took Hope from Faith, before letting his daughter grab hold of his thumb.

"I am not…I just have a weird feeling in my gut…," Faith started to say with a joking smile before her face became more serious and contemplative. 

"You're not pregnant again…are you, because that's how…," Wesley asked, not completely knowing which answer he wanted more.  Sure he wanted another child, another possibility to prove himself a better dad than his father was, but with everything that he and Faith had gone through before and after Hope's birth he didn't know if they were ready for another child.  

"I don't think so…maybe it was your cooking that's disagreeing with me, you trying a new recipe and all," Faith said shooting her husband a playful dirty look, desperately trying to not think about the possibility of Wesley's hunch being right, because in her mind another child was the last thing that they needed right now.  But then again there had been very little that had happened in her life that was what she wanted.

"Here now…my cooking isn't that bad…yours is bloody awful…," Wesley said with his back to Faith as he looked at Faith back over his shoulder in the mirror while he began to tie his tie.  

"You just keep telling yourself that Wes…and one day…you might just believe it," Faith shot back with a fake look of anger on her face before she picked up a rubber band and aims and then fires it, hitting Wesley in the ear.  

"Hey…," Wesley exclaimed in shock as he spun around and glared at Faith, who simply shrugged her shoulders and said, "You asked for it," before turning and rushing into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

*                     *                     *                   *                  *               *                 *             *

That same Monday morning was also a mixed blessing for Dawn, as the day meant that there was now exactly one week before classes started.  And as the slayer she had been thankful that so far her skills had not been needed very often, forcing her to only have to bail out of a couple of parties that she was pleased to later find out from her roommates that weren't very good.  More than once she had been forced to come up with exaggerated excuses for all of the odd items that she had been bringing home with her, things that her roommates never knew were parts of demons and other non human beings.  All that work was done to help her expand her creature database, full of foot impressions, skin samples and the like, that she had started shortly after the defeat of the First, with a lot of help from Willow and Andrew.  After the defeat of the First Andrew and Dawn had become very close, closer than most people knew, in fact the two had gone so far as to plan out times to see each other and just be with each other, with Andrew begging to pick the places, but after one of his ideas would have had them ending up at a sci-fi convention Dawn had taken over that part of their budding relationship.  When Buffy found out she tried to talk Dawn out of having any kind of a relationship with Andrew, using the murderer card before she fully thought it through, as Dawn, after some hard thinking, came back with Spike's bloody history.  

As usual the sisters had gotten into many heated quarrels over the subject, usually ending with one or both of them storming off out of the room and slamming the nearest door, reminding Xander of an episode of Moonlighting.  After awhile something would force the two to be friends again but as time went on it became obvious to Buffy that no matter what she did Dawn would continue to see Andrew.  Spike had tried his best to comfort and reassure her, that coupled with the fact that he had personally threatened the former villain with the punishment of death if he ever did anything to hurt Dawn.  As Dawn's senior year neared it's end Andrew had been offered a very promising job in Seattle, that was to good to pass up, and despite her strong feelings for him Dawn had told him to take the job.  Very reluctantly he had taken the job and left almost immediately, but not before getting the greatest present that he thought that he'd ever receive, for Dawn had planned it that the night Andrew left was a night in which Buffy, Spike, and Willow were in Los Angeles helping Angel with another Apocalypse and Xander and Anya were out of town showing Christopher to Xander's relatives.  Almost exactly like Buffy Dawn lost her virginity in her own bed to someone that she loved.  

By the time everyone had returned to Sunnydale Andrew was gone and it had been long enough that even with his vampire sense of smell Spike noticed nothing out of the ordinary, only that Andrew had obviously visited while they were away.  Shortly after he had left Dawn had received in the mail a locket that Andrew had sent her that he said had a spell of protection placed over it, and she had worn it ever since that day.  Buffy and Spike had asked a few questions about the locket but Dawn had been able to satiate them by telling them that it was just a locket from one of her close friends at school.  Upon moving to her dorm room in New York Dawn was thankful that she hadn't been asked where the locket came from, her roommates seemed far more interested in her stories about vampires and demons.  

*                  *                    *                    *                     *                  *                *              *

Dropping Hope off at the daycare had been simple enough and by noon Wesley and Faith were having a pretty good Monday.  Wesley's first class of the day, Medieval Myths and Legends, had gone smoothly as Wesley had planned a test for the day, allowing himself and Faith to get together and compare notes for later classes along with Faith slipping her cell phone out of her pocket and making a quick call to the daycare to check up on Hope.  Usually at lunch time, if the weather was nice, Wesley and Faith would take a walk and get their lunch from one of the local vendors.  On this Monday they had thought ahead and checked the weather forecast and ate a small meal in his classroom.  Most days they would eat alone but sometime Callie and Nick would join them, with usually Wesley and Nick getting wrapped up in a discussion about some excerpt from one of the ancient manuscripts in the library and Faith and Callie usually getting sidetracked either with something concerning Hope, Callie's training, or if she were feeling brave Callie would ask questions about Wesley and Faith's past.  

Faith would never have pictured herself in any situation that was even close to what she currently found herself in years earlier.  When a day at school became to stressful, or after an argument with Wesley, Faith would often slip into the night with only a stake and a knife, coming back hours later having worked out all of her frustrations.  Other than that the days spent in school passed easily enough, with only a random student being lost to denizens of the underworld, much to Wesley and Faith's delight.  In Wesley's afternoon class was when Faith, in her position as his teaching assistant really came into her own.  Looking at her back in the early days the dean hadn't taken her for someone that knew about weapons but for the majority of Wesley's afternoon class of Conflicts in the Ancient and Medieval World Faith led the class, explaining with a great amount of pleasure about the different weapons and fighting techniques.  To that end Wesley had often found Faith pouring over one old tome after another, coupled with searching the internet every chance she got.  At first he had laughed at her study appearance, for it reminded him of his own in his early days, where he had looked more ready to gym class than serious study.  

The end of Wesley's afternoon class meant more than just the chance for Wesley and Faith to relax it also meant that within just a few short hours Hope would have to be picked up from daycare, family time to be spent together, and then for Faith to get ready for her shift at the radio station.  At times Faith would simply leave right after the afternoon class and spend some time at home by herself while Wesley would watch Hope while at the same time grading papers and doing work of that nature at the school.  Wesley never really asked what Faith did in those free times, deciding that it was better for everyone involved that he give Faith some free time every now and then.  On this day though both Faith and Wesley stayed at school and, after a quick visit to the daycare to check up on Hope, began to research, with Nick and Callie's help, a problem that a local businessman had brought to their attention.  The businessman had been losing business for a few weeks without having any knowledge of why.  Now that in and of itself was not what brought Wesley and Faith into the equation, what pulled them in was the fact that the businessman operated a store that specialized in charms, potions, and anything else that one would need to cast powerful magic spells.  

"You say items have been randomly disappearing off of the store shelves," Wesley said with a slightly bewitched scowl on his face as he ran a hand through his hair and edged closer to Faith.  

"Yes…Mr. Saburon said that at the beginning of the day his shelves are full but then at night they aren't," Callie said with a bewildered look on her face as she continued to tap the eraser end of her pencil onto the pad of paper in front of her.

"Ya know…not to be the wet blanket that points out the inherent problem here but…wouldn't his shelves not being full at the end of the day be…oh I don't know…a good thing," Faith said with an unbelieving frown on her face as she leaned up against Wesley and laid her head on his shoulder.  

"Generally yes, but in this case he's seen items literally disappear into thin air, in fact he had a jar of frog legs disappear on him as he was putting it on the shelf," Nick said with a slightly defensive look on his face as he looked up from the text that he had been scanning.

"Disappearing produce and such…doesn't sound too dangerous huh Wes," Faith added with a slightly mischievous smirk on her face as she sat up and glared lightly at Nick.  

"On the surface no…but at the moment the phenomena doesn't appear to be life threatening to Mr. Saburon or anyone else so I think that we should do nothing for right now and see if anything changes," Wesley said with a tired look on his face as he closed up the tome that he had been reading passages out of and lazily threw an arm around Faith's waist.

"I'd bet that Hope could tackle this case…drool and all," Nick exclaimed with a joyous smirk on his face as Wesley regarded him with a confused look on his face before Faith spoke up.

"My daughter does not drool…Wes might sometimes when we pass a bookstore but not Hope…," Faith said with a tone to her voice that made it hard for Nick and Callie to know if she was joking or actually angry.  

"Whatever…anyway guys guess what happened today," Nick interjected stifling a laugh as he stood up off of his stool and opened his briefcase.  

"I'll save us all the excruciating time that we'd spend waiting for you to answer and just ask what…what happened today Nick that got you so worked up that you just had to rush over here and tell us…and if it's another prophecy I'm warning you…," Faith said forcefully while rolling her eyes as beside her Wesley and Callie nodded their heads in agreement while being glad that Faith had jumped in when she did.  

"Don't worry it's not a prophecy…someone…a student from a nearby school actually…asked for a copy of the Dringogen texts, they're the ones that explain all about that cult of fire breathing demons that terrorized this area a hundred years ago," Nick said with the tone of and excitement in his voice rising as he explained his message.  The whole time Callie looked at him as if she were wondering how she had ever fallen in love with him in the first place.  

"That's odd, what would anyone want with those old books," Faith said with a thoroughly confused scowl on her face as she slipped off of her stool beside Wesley and walked over to close out Wesley's computer for the day.

"I have no clue, but I told her that I couldn't help her until after classes today, I told her to come here to your classroom to get the tomes, I hope you don't mind," Nick mumbled out with a look on his face as if he were waiting to get his head ripped off by either Windholm, or possibly both.  He didn't have to wait long for his response, but it was most definitely not the one that he had expected.

"No not at all…so when is this friend of yours coming exactly," Wesley said through a yawn while he made a few more marks on a couple of tests before he put the cap back on his pen and slid all of the tests into his briefcase.  

"She should be here any minute now, I can't even begin to tell you how surprised she was that our library had the book," Nick said brightening up and being relieved that he was still in one piece. 

"So does this mystery woman have a name…or…," Callie asked in such a way as if she seemed to be on the defensive.  From across the desk Faith did her best to stifle a laugh as the computer got ever closer to being completely shut down.

"It started with a D I think…said she was from somewhere in California, Sunny something or other," Nick babbled out thoughtfully and purposefully as he tried to remember the young woman's name, not noticing Wesley and Faith cringing slightly.

"It wasn't Dawn Summers…from Sunnydale California…was it," Wesley almost choked out as he hurriedly and nervously stuffed the rest of his papers into his briefcase and snapped it shut.  

"Yeah…that's what her name was…Dawn Summers…and she did say that she was from Sunnydale California…how'd you guess," Nick exclaimed, now excited and confused at the apparent fact that Wesley and Faith knew more about this young woman than he did.

"Lucky guess," Faith mumbled fearfully with a touch of impending doom in her voice as the computer screen turned off and became like a low quality mirror.  Wesley was just about to, as best he could, politely apologize and excuse himself and Faith when the classroom door opened and worn out redhead stumbled in, complaining about how hard it had been to find the room.  Both Wesley and Faith jerked to attention as they slowly turned to face the young woman, who had continued talking, as she walked across the room towards the desk and laid her book bag down heavily on the desk.

"Excuse me…am I in the right room, my name is Dawn Summers and I…I…Wesley, Faith…what…," Dawn said cheerfully enough at first before she gasped through the last part, her eyes almost as big as silver dollars.  

"Oh shit…," Faith mumbled angrily under her breath as she turned back towards the computer screen and leaned her forehead up against the smooth screen.

"Hello Dawn…longtime no see…how are you," Wesley managed to get out with a pleasant enough smile on his face before his face fell as he could only imagine the confused and shocked looks on Callie and Nick's faces.

END OF CHAPTER 4


	5. Explanations

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones like Hope, Callie, and Nick.**

**CHAPTER 5-EXPLANATIONS**

Silence.  Several seconds of the most terrifying silence that either Fair or Wesley had ever heard followed Dawn's arrival in the room.  Callie and Nick stood, open mouthed and with horribly confused looks on their faces, side by side alternating their stares between the young woman that had just entered the room and the two people that they had come to know at Alex and Elizabeth Windholm.  Even though she urgently wanted to look back at Wesley and gauge his reaction to what had just happened Faith found it suddenly impossible to move her head or neck, forcing her to just stand there and stare at the blank computer screen, as if searching for answers in its blank appearance.  Wesley desperately tried to busy himself with carefully arranging every square inch of the inside of his briefcase, uninterested in looking up and trying to explain himself.  Across the room Dawn stood in a stunned silence, a thousand and one thoughts running through her overwhelmed mind.  Memories of the impromptu funeral that Buffy and Angel had demanded that they give for Faith seeped back into her mind, that along with the way that Angel and the others at Angel Investigations had talked about how much they missed Wesley and wondered where he was and if he was doing alright.  The thoughts of what Buffy and the others would say if they found out that not only was Faith apparently alive, but alive and very well off, and shocker of all in a college lecture hall beside Wesley, who reminded Dawn of her fourth period history teacher.  

"Wesley, Faith…Alex…what's going on," Callie asked, finally breaking the eerie silence that hung in the room, as she took a step closer to Wesley, her eyes never leaving him.  

"Well you see…," Wesley sputtered out as his mind feverishly tried to come up with some explanation, some line of reasoning, that wouldn't end up with he and Faith coming across as horrible people, and for the life of him he couldn't.  

"We thought you were dead…wait you were dead…how," Dawn gasped out with a look of total unbelief, covering up an underlying layer of joy, on her face as she hesitantly took a step closer to Wesley and tried to calm her nerves.  

"Hell if I know…one minute I'm a stiff and the next Wesley's crouched over me with tears in his eyes…telling me that I was dead, and now alive again," Faith exclaimed without a touch of feeling in her voice as she kept her body rigid, still staring straight ahead at the blank computer screen.  

"Wait a minute…you died…but you're here…what," Nick stammered out quickly as he took a couple of steps back and sat down in one of the chairs in the front row.  

"Callie, Nick…we haven't been entirely truthful to you…and I'm sorry about that…but we thought…we thought it best that you didn't know about our lives before coming here," Wesley said, using every spare iota of courage that he still had, as he slowly closed his briefcase and sighed deeply.  

"Your lives before here…what were you…murderers…," Callie exclaimed with still the look of disbelief on her face as she joined Nick in the front row of chairs.  Luckily neither Callie nor Nick had been watching Faith to see just how right Callie had been in her question, for at the mention of the word murderer Faith's blood ran cold and she started to sweat nervously.  

"No…they weren't…well Faith…but that was an accident…I can't believe it…you're here," Dawn said almost fearfully at first before her guarded enthusiasm got the best of her and she rushed over and hugged Wesley tightly, before having to let go of him lest she snap him in two.  

"I don't…remember you being this strong Dawn…," Wesley gasped out between breaths as he tried to keep his composure while Faith finally found the strength to turn around before she walked over at laid a hand on Wesley's shoulder.

"So B's kid sister is the new slayer…always wondered who got the calling…guess it makes sense," Faith chimed in with a look of subtle disbelief on her face before she sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"The slayer…wait I've read about them…always thought they were just a myth…," Nick said, with his eyes wide and a thoughtful scowl on his face, as she sat up straight and turned to stare at Wesley and Faith.  

"Nope, we're real alright…the chosen one and all, endowed with the power and responsibility to protect humanity from the things that go bump in the night," Dawn said, seeming very proud of herself, as she crossed her arms and leaned back up against the desk.  

"You mean…you…and Eliza…Faith…are slayers," Callie exclaimed with a fearful look on her face as her hand found Nick's and he squeezed her hand in reassurance.  

"Yep…the two of us and Dawn's older sister," Faith said with an almost bored look on her face as she took a step to the side and leaned forward onto Wesley, laying her chin on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist, giving Dawn the impression that she was using her former watcher as a life preserver.  

"But the text's say that there's only supposed to be one slayer…and you're saying that there's actually three…," Nick stammered out with a thoroughly confused look on his face as he looked back and forth between Callie and Wesley.  

"Well…things don't always go exactly as planned, so yes I guess that there is…are three slayers active at this time," Wesley said with a tone to his voice that reminded Dawn of Giles and Faith of the first time she had met him in the old Sunnydale High School library.  

"But why the deception…why the fake names…Windholm isn't your last name…is it," Callie exclaimed strongly, now seeming more hurt and angry at being lied to then being confused about the whole situation.

"We wanted a fresh start, and we knew that if anyone found out that Faith was alive the council would try and order her around like a trained seal, and I wasn't about to let that happen, then Hope came along and Faith and I knew that we needed to keep her as far away from our old life as we possibly could, and no Windholm isn't our last name, actually we're Wesley and Faith Wyndham Pryce, with Hope of course, who…," Wesley said with a look on his face as if part of him was terrified to be explaining everything and another part of him was excited to finally get the secret off of his chest.

"Just woke up from her nap and is one awfully cranky little lady," someone said from the doorway that caused everyone in the room to turn and look that way.  Standing in the doorway was Wesley's secretary, holding a very upset and crying Hope.  Within seconds Faith walked by a very startled Dawn and took her daughter into her arms.

"Thank you Clarice…I'll take her," Faith said with an almost relieved look on her face as Clarice nodded her head and left the room.  "It's okay Hope, momma's got you now," Faith cooed softly into her daughter's ear as Dawn's eyes grew even larger as the full extent of what she was seeing dawned on her.  

"Momma…you mean…she's…you're her…," Dawn stammered out as her mouth tried to keep up with all of the figuring that her mind was doing.

"Mother…and I'm her father, Hope is our daughter, just one of the reasons that we got married when we did, and kept our past a secret," Wesley said with a soft tone to his voice, as Faith walked over to him with a slowly calming Hope in her arms, before he reached a hand up and his face brightened considerably as Hope reached a chubby hand out and wrapped her fingers tightly around his index finger.  The last thing that either Faith or Wesley heard before being enveloped in a huge hug was Dawn suddenly squealing with delight.

*                 *                *                *                *                *                    *                     *

Angel hadn't been having a very good time in New York City, as if being unsure of exactly where to begin wasn't bad enough he had a very strong willed Gwen talking in his ear every five seconds.  They had found a nice enough hotel room for their needs and Gwen had closed and pinned the curtains closed, allowing Angel to move about the hotel room freely during the day.  Gwen had tried more than once to advance her position with Angel, going so far as to buy Angel expensive paper and pencils so that he could keep himself busy during the day.  When Lorne had first told him about the danger that he had sensed in New York Angel had thought about taking Cordelia along with him, giving the two a chance to finally either break off any chance the two ever had of becoming a couple or burying the hatchet once and for all and coming back from their mission a strong item.  However Gwen had interceded strongly and now Angel, against his better judgment, was beginning to wonder about whether or not being in New York with Gwen instead of Cordelia was some sort of sign, a way for the Powers That Be to help him in his decision.  

But even if Gwen accompanying him to New York was indeed a sign from the Powers That Be Angel had dealt with them enough to know that nothing was ever as it initially seemed.  Gwen had tried her best to not use room service, as Angel had repeatedly told her that the pair were trying to spend their time in the city as cheaply as possible.  Using a phone card Angel had dialed up the Hyperion and had been glad when Lorne had answered, at least at first.  Over the next hour he had been flooded with one story after another that Lorne had found interesting, and absolutely nothing about how things were going back in California.  After that hour Cordelia had arrived back at the hotel after taking Liam out for some sun, Connor had gone with her and upon hearing that Angel was on the phone he had sullenly refused to talk and escaped to his room.  Cordelia had almost ripped the phone from Lorne's hand and took the first part of their talk trying to determine just what Gwen was doing to try and horn in on her territory.  After that the two old friends talked mainly about how thing were going back at the hotel and how Liam and Connor were doing.  All in all Angel was about ready to hang up when Gunn and Fred arrived back at the hotel after finishing a job and during the rest of his call Angel talked to Fred and found out what she had discovered after researching what Lorne had told her.  When he finally hung up the phone Gwen was standing nearby with a very determined scowl on her face.

"Finally…I swear if you weren't already the undead I'd…," Gwen said with an impatient scowl on her face as she straightened up and sat down on the edge of a nearby bed.

"Yes…Gwen…what do you want, I had to make sure that everything was going alright and to see if Fred had found anything," Angel said with a tired look on his face as he nervously ran a hand through his hair and tried to not look at Gwen, whom he suddenly realized wasn't wearing as much clothes as she had been when he started talking to Lorne.

"You need to get ready if we're going to make the show…it starts in a few hours and I want to get there early…and don't bitch and moan to me about the sun…it'll be down well before the show starts," Gwen said forcefully as she stood up and grabbed Angel by the arm, hauling him up out of the chair that he was in and pushing him towards where the bellhop had set their luggage down.

"A show…Gwen we don't have time to see a show, we're here to stop an apocalypse and save the world…or have you forgotten," Angel almost growled back as he lightly wrenched his arm out of Gwen's grasp.

"Hey, the world isn't going to end tonight and from the look on your face you didn't find out very much when you called L.A., so unless I'm mistaken you're free tonight, and I have two tickets to a show I've been dying to see, so get in there and get ready," Gwen exclaimed with a very commanding look on her face and tone to her voice as she shoved Angel into the bathroom and tossed one of his bags in after him, closing the door when she was done and returning back to the bed that had some of her clothes laid out on it, trying to decide what to wear that night.

*                *                  *                *              *              *               *                *              *

Buffy had gotten sick shortly after the crossed the New York line and so Spike had quickly found the first reasonably priced hotel that he could and paid for a room.  As gently as he could Spike helped Buffy up to the room and then into her pajama's before he ushered her to the bed and didn't leave until she was as comfortable as she was going to be and on her way to sleep.  Before leaving the room Spike took a few spell components out of one of their bags and recited the incantation that Willow had given him as he cast the spell that would protect their room for the night, allowing Buffy to get a full nights sleep and Spike to go out and pick up a few supplies.  It wasn't until Spike returned to the lobby that he sensed the familiar feeling that he knew could only mean one thing, vampires.  With a final look back over his shoulder at the stairs that led up to his and Buffy's room Spike disappeared into the city, intent on staying up all night if need be to keep anything outside of their hotel room from disturbing Buffy's slumber, even if it killed him.

*                *                *                *                *               *               *                  *             *

For the next several hours after admitting to who they truly were Wesley and Faith had spent the entire time relating to a stunned Callie and Nick nearly everything that had led them to this exact point in their lives.  At first Callie and Nick had been somewhat resistant to believe anything that either said, but for some reason Nick seemed to trust Dawn and several times during their talk he had tossed a confused glance her way and she had either nodded her head in agreement with Faith and Wesley or gave a short and simple explanation that seemed to satiate his question.  During most of the time Dawn had walked all over the room, Hope in her arms, after having incessantly begged Faith to let her hold the one year old.  At first both Faith and Wesley had seemed uneasy about letting Dawn hold Hope for that long but after a short time it was apparent that Hope didn't mind being held by the newest slayer, in fact she almost seemed to enjoy it, and Dawn seemed to be having the time of her life.  Only once did either Wesley or Faith have to take her back to calm her down, and Dawn had waited until Hope was calm before taking her back and continuing her walk around the room. When it became late enough Faith hugged Hope tightly and placed a kiss on the top of her head, with a few loving words along with it, before quickly kissed Wesley and then caught a ride home with Clarice to get ready for her radio show.  After Faith left Wesley tried to gauge Callie and Nick's reaction to what he was telling them.  Callie seemed to just be overwhelmed with it all while Nick seemed to be confused on many things, a sure sign that Wesley would most likely have to sit down with him later and thoroughly explain things to him.  But all in all neither one seemed to be as angry at the end as they were at the beginning.  

"But how could you…and Faith, after what she…," Callie asked with an almost fearful look on her face as she looked intently at Wesley, seemingly gauging his every action.

"It wasn't all her fault to begin with…and over the years I've made more mistakes then I'd really care to admit…ones that hurt those that I loved, and in our line of work forgiveness is an inevitability, whether you like it or not…then after Faith got out of prison…I don't know…she was just…different, I was different…we went from there," Wesley said, obviously embarrassed about having to talk about very private details, as he stood up and slowly walked around to the front of the desk.

"Wait a minute…I can't believe I didn't think of this before…you were there…the three of you…at my graduation…weren't you," Dawn said, her eyes wide in both astonishment and realization, as she stopped showing Hope a poster on the wall and turned back towards Wesley.

"You saw us then…yes we were there," Wesley said with a slightly embarrassed look on his face as he hung his head a bit and began to study the tops of his shoes intently.  

"But why didn't you stop by…everybody missed you two so much, they would have loved to see you…and Hope, Giles would have had a field day with her," Dawn started to say with a slightly hurt look on her face before it was replaced by an almost amused smirk as she thought of how Giles would have reacted to the news of Faith and Wesley, watcher and slayer, having a child together.  

"We were happy in our new life and the lot of you looked happy enough, besides it was your day…not ours, speaking of which you should get back to your dorm room, your roommates are probably wondering what happened to you…do they know that you're the slayer," Wesley said with a somber frown on his face as he stood back up and walked over to Dawn, before taking Hope into his arms and giving her a kiss on the top of her head, causing her to coo with joy and Dawn to tear up at the happy sight.

"They know I'm different…that's all I'm going to tell them for now, and they're all going out to a big freshman party, I doubt they'd notice if a Fyarl demon came crashing through the front door," Dawn said chuckling out loud as she took a seat at the end of the front row and tried to calm her laughing.

"I've know people like that…but you really should be going, the janitor's will be here in a few minutes and I need to go home and feed Hope or else she'll get cranky, and Faith will kill me if she has to help get Hope to bed after work," Wesley said with a very fatherly tone to his voice as he turned away from Dawn and walked back towards the desk, finally picking his briefcase up with his free hand.  

"We'd better get going to…we have a lot to…think about," Callie said nervously as she stood up and pulled Nick up with her before the pair nodded to Wesley and Dawn and left the room.

"I hope I didn't screw things up to badly for you and Faith…I never meant to," Dawn exclaimed sadly, giving Wesley her best puppy dog eyes while she unconsciously began to rub the pendant that Andrew had given her.  

"Don't worry about it Dawn, it's not like you exposed us over the radio or television…now c'mon, I'll give you a ride back to your dorm," Wesley said with a serious but tired look on his face and tone to his voice as he walked to the door and started to turn off the lights.

"Okay…it'll give me a chance to grill you with more questions," Dawn said with a fair amount of glee in her voice as she grabbed the tome that she had come for, and after shoving it deep into her bag, she walked past Wesley out of the classroom as he held the door open for her with his foot as he turned off the last few lights.  

"I can hardly wait…," Wesley said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and followed a now giggling Dawn down the hall towards the parking lot.

END OF CHAPTER 5


	6. Family Time And An Old Friend

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for Callie, Nick, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 6-FAMILY TIME AND AN OLD FRIEND**

She got home a little later than usual that night, after having one of the worst nights of her young radio talk show hosting career.  The callers had been merciless in their opinions of something that a star had done the day before and she had indirectly ended up being the person that everyone had ragged on.  She was nearly fuming when she parked the car and shut the engine off.  As she stormed into the house the words to her anger were already forming before she dumped her things in an easy chair by the door and saw a sight that at the same time made her heart melt and made her anger seem as inconsequential as caring whether or not she had enough change for the toll the next day.  For reclining in his favorite easy chair in the living room, with a peacefully slumbering Hope lying on top of him with her small head rising up and down with every breath that he took, lay an obviously deep in sleep Wesley.  Taking advantage of this moment of true domestic bliss Faith went about getting herself ready for bed while at the same time cleaning up the small mess that Wesley had made and obviously forgotten to clean up.  After she had washed her face, brushed her hair and teeth, and changed into her nightgown she slowly made her way back into the living room.  With a gentle smile on her face Faith knelt down beside her sleeping husband and young daughter and began to softly draw circles on first Hope's cheek and then Wesley's with her index finger.  After noticing that neither Hope nor Wesley stirred Faith advanced her plan and leaned in close to Wesley and, starting with his shoulder, began to slow kiss her way up to his lips before she crushed her lips against his.  For a few seconds she was the only one doing any of the kissing, but then as if some unseen force had alerted him to her presence Wesley sleepily returned the kiss while trying his best to not disturb the little angel sleeping peacefully on his chest.

"Hey," Wesley mumbled sleepily as he blinked his eyes open and carefully brought a hand up to try and rub the sleep from his eyes, all the while never taking his gaze off of Faith's face.  

"Hey yourself Wes, something good on tv," Faith whispered back softly before she planted another kiss on Wesley's lips and was encouraged by the vigor with which he kissed her back.  

"Something like that…our little angel wanted to wait up for her mommy…I tried to tell her that you wouldn't be getting home till very late…but she's just like her mother…got a bloody stubborn streak a mile long," Wesley softly whispered back with a content smile on his face as he brought the hand up that had been rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and softly began to caress Faith's cheek.  

"She did huh…yeah I'll bet you did…," Faith almost cooed back softly with a very sleepy smile on her face as she very cautiously picked Hope up off of Wesley's chest, being very relieved that all the Hope did was begin to fuss before quieting back down and returning to her peaceful slumber.  Almost reluctantly Wesley returned the chair to its normal position and rose to his feet before allowing Faith to take him by the hand and lead him back to their bedroom.  Upon entering the bathroom Faith softly and gently laid Hope down in her basinet and then turned back to find a yawning Wesley standing at the foot of the bed with a content smile on his face.  "What are you smiling at," she asked trying to keep from laughing out loud for fear of waking Hope.  

"Oh nothing…it's just something that Dawn said when I gave her a ride back to her dorm room…it didn't hit me until now," Wesley whispered loudly with a broad smirk on his face as after one last quick look at Hope sleeping peacefully Faith walked up in front of him and laid a hand on his chest as she gazed up into his soft brown eyes.  

"And just what pray tell was that my dear husband," Faith asked in her mock southern accent as she smiled sleepily up at Wesley.  

"That you could give Buffy pointers on a slayer pregnancy…what to expect and all," Wesley whispered back with a calm look on his face before it changed into a smile as he saw first the shocked look on Faith's face and then it change to one of excitement.

"So B's pregnant huh…guess Angel finally found a way to get past that happiness clause and…," Faith started to say softly with a small chuckle before noticed the confused look on Wesley's face.

"Angel isn't the father…Spike is…apparently after we left he and Buffy got back together…and then just about a year or so they returned to Africa and Spike underwent more tests, and after he passed them he became human…well almost human, it appears that he's the first male slayer," Wesley explained slowly so that Faith could take it all in without feeling overwhelmed, although he expected that she would be anyway.

"Spike…a slayer…how'd Angel take it, he couldn't have been to thrilled to lose B to Spike," Faith asked with her nose scrunched up a bit as she thought of how she expected that Angel had taken the news of losing whom he had previously explained as the love of his un-life to his childe.  

"From what Dawn said not to well, although he had enough worries of his own with Cordelia and Connor's son Liam…from the way Dawn told it Angel doesn't have a clue what to do next…she said that last time she visited them in Los Angeles he barely said a word to her, Buffy, or Spike," Wesley replied softly with a very concerned frown on his face as he slowly sat down on the bed, an act that Faith quickly duplicated.  

"Wait…Queen C and…Connor, they have a kid….shit…that ain't right," Faith started to say with a confused and shocked scowl on her face before a split second after swearing she worriedly glanced over at Hope to make sure that she was still sleeping before she then continued.  "But now that Dawn knows that we're alive I doubt that it'll take her to long before she tells B about us…then she'll tell Angel and…," Faith said with a slightly worried look on her face as she slowly looked back and forth between Wesley and the sleeping Hope.  

"And then Hope's going to get to meet all of her aunts and uncles…along with her…cousins…Christopher and Liam," Wesley said back with a look on his face as it was painfully obvious that he wasn't looking forward to the day where everyone would be back together.  

"I wonder what they'll all think of us…Giles will probably say that we shouldn't be together because I'm the slayer and you're my watcher…," Faith said with a small shudder as she thought about the alternative to her present way of life.

"I don't care what Giles or anyone else says Faith…in truth it's none of their bloody business…," Wesley exclaimed as softly as he could while still getting the forcefulness of his point across.

"You're right…it's not…," Faith started to say with a somewhat relieved smile before Wesley leaned down and softly kissed her.  Before she knew what was happening she reached up and pulled him into a more passionate kiss, all that moments before even though they were tired their passions overtook them.  

The next morning dawned a gloomy gray, with low lying clouds causing the fog to be quite thick.  Unlike the usually bright Monday mornings Tuesday mornings usually worked more like a factory in the Wyndham Pryce household.  Faith usually got up first and was out of the shower by the time Wesley got up.  Then Wesley would sprint through the shower before trying to help Faith give Hope her breakfast and get her dressed.  More than once had Wesley been forced to change his clothes after Hope had redirected some strained carrots his way.  When that happened Faith would barely make a nose, but the look of sheer mirth on her face told him everything that he needed to know.  On a few occasions the morning meal had turned into a food fight between the three, with whoever was losing using a giggling Hope as a food shield.  By the time Hope was ready to go both Faith and Wesley hurriedly finished getting dressed themselves and rushed out the door.  On Tuesday's Wesley didn't have a morning class and they only hurried so much because they wanted to get to their room quickly enough so that they could both spend some quiet time with Hope and also to catch up on anything, supernatural in origin or otherwise, that they may have been unable to earlier.

But on this morning they received a shock that they were not ready for, because sitting quietly in the front row, wearing a light blue pair of jeans with a dark black belt topped off with a black turtleneck, was Dawn.  The whole ensemble that she wore was joined by a small gold locket that Wesley thought he had seen her wearing the day that she had graduated.  Her bulging book bag was sitting on the floor at her feet.  Wesley slowly walked through the room with only a polite but slightly confused smile to Dawn before he set his things down on his desk.  Faith walked in carrying a somewhat fussy Hope in her arms along with Hope's diaper bag and other supplies. Dawn's face brightened up at the sight of Hope.  

"Hey guys…," Dawn said with a nervous smile on her face as she leaned forward in her chair and clasped her hands together in front of her on the desk.  

"I didn't expect to see you this morning, is there something wrong," Wesley asked with a somewhat worried frown on his face as he pulled out his chair and sat down before taking Hope off of Faith's hands for a bit. 

"Wrong…why would there be anything wrong…I mean I wouldn't be here if there wasn't something wrong…but nothing's wrong and…," Dawn exclaimed with a scared and unsure look on her face as she seemed to grower tenser with every passing word.

"Something's definitely wrong…she's babbling…B's the same way," Faith interjected with her usual interested smile on her face as she cleared a place on one of the corners of Wesley's desk and sat down with her legs and arms crossed.

"Why don't you calm down Dawn and tell us what's wrong…whatever it is I'm sure that we can help you with…," Wesley started to say with a slightly tired smile on his face as he let Hope wrap her little hand around his index finger before Dawn abruptly interrupted him.

"Buffy and Spike are here…well in town…they just showed up, said that they were here to help me move in…I swear I didn't know that they were coming, I told them not to come…but you know Buffy…I swear that they don't know about the two of you," Dawn said as she continued to ramble as it seemed obvious that her mouth was moving much slower than her mind.  From what little Wesley had seen of her he noticed that becoming the slayer had realistically not changed Dawn very much, other than to give her a small air of confidence that had been just youthful enthusiasm before.  

"Fuck…oops I mean…what do we do now Wes…," Faith asked her husband with a worried look on her face as she turned back around slightly.  Even Hope seemed to understand the importance of the situation as she clammed up after fussing just seconds earlier.  

"We help Dawn out with whatever aid that she requires and then hope that Buffy and Spike only stay for a short time before going back to Sunnydale, with any luck nothing will have changed," Wesley replied with a small sigh as he leaned back in his chair and repositioned Hope.  

"Earth to Wes…we have the worst luck in the known universe remember…now we'll be lucky if we only have to run into Spike and B," Faith said with a slightly worried look on her face as she slid off of the desk and walked towards the computer.  

"It'll be okay…really, I'll make sure that they stay in town while they're here…with Buffy being pregnant and all they probably won't stay to long," Dawn added with a hopeful smile on her face as she pulled out the Dringogen text and opened it up to somewhere in the middle.  

"I hope you're right Dawn…the last thing that I need is to try and explain all of this to your sister," Faith said with a slightly unhappy scowl on her face as she squatted down and turned on the computers power.  

"Is there a translation that you need help with Dawn…," Wesley asked softly as he stood up and let Hope bounce a little with each step, an act that she seemed to like, that he took as he walked towards Dawn.  

"No…it's just that I don't understand a few things…like this book doesn't say where the demons came from or even why they left…all it says is that they appeared in the cities one day and began to kill…and then one day just as suddenly as they had appeared they left…supposedly never to return," Dawn said with her nose scrunched up with her usual confused look on her face as she flipped through a few pages and ran her finger along a few passages.  

"Maybe they ate their fill…or ran out of time and had to return to wherever they came from," came Faith's bored voice from across the room as she continued to boot up the computer.  

"More likely someone or something was alerted to their presence and stopped them…perhaps an earlier slayer…although I don't remember reading anything about a slayer in this area at that time," Wesley said with a deep in thought look on his face, one that Hope seemed to try and copy, as he paced back and forth in front of the front row of desks.  

"Thanks a lot Dawn…," Faith grumbled with an unhappy frown on her face as she shook her head and cast a glance back at Dawn over her shoulder.

"What'd I do…," Dawn asked with a slightly confused and defensive look on her face as she looked up from the Dringogen text.

"Thanks to you Wesley won't be able to rest until he gets to the bottom of your little dilemma, he'll be up at the computer all night instead of where he's supposed to be…," Faith answered clearly as she typed in the password and then began to bring up Wesley's notes for his first class.  

"Wait…I don't…where is he supposed to…," Dawn stammered out nervously as she began to shift her gaze back and forth between Faith and Wesley, who had stopped pacing and was now fixing one of Hope's socks.  

"In bed right next to her…but Faith's right Dawn…this is going to bother me until I get to the bottom of it, was there anything in there that says what the demons look like or how to kill them," Wesley said with a slightly nervous look on his face in between big smiles as he tried to get Hope to smile.  

"What they look like sure…it even has pictures…well not real pictures more like drawings and things like that but…see," Dawn said with a lost look on her face at first before she brightened up and she smile as she found the right page and turned the book a bit so that Wesley could see the drawings.  

The images on the page seemed to be to Wesley images that one would expect to find in a science fiction movie.  The demons were depicted as seemingly a cross between human and some demonic form.  The image reminded Wesley of the cover of one of the old records that his father had ordered him never to buy.  In fact the demons looked like a slightly smaller version of the Beast that had blotted out the sun in Los Angeles three and a half years earlier.  During the fight to defeat that Beast both Wesley and Faith had felt the first few awkward feelings and hints that would later turn into love.  They had both been far to nervous at the time to do anything about it but those feelings had been a large amount of the reason that Wesley had gone to Sunnydale, against Angel's orders, to help fight and ultimately beat the First.  

"Hey Wes…earth to Wesley…," Faith said with a slightly annoyed scowl on her face as she turned fully back towards Wesley and waved her hands in front of her face.  

"Y…yes Faith…," Wesley mumbled softly at first before more forcefully as he looked up and shook his head a bit.

"Do you want me to print both sets of notes…or just the one," Faith asked with a frustrated and impatient scowl on her face and with her hands on her hips looking none to pleased.  

"Both…please…and thank you Faith," Wesley said with a frustrated look on his face as he set about pacing back and forth again.

"Whatever you say honey," Faith answered with a very sarcastic look on her face and tone to her voice as she set about printing the notes.  

"Let me ask you this Dawn…who's your watcher," Wesley asked with a sudden look of realization on his face as he stopped pacing mid-step and turned around.  

"Uh…a watcher…I…uh…I don't have one," Dawn replied with a very embarrassed smile on her face as she purposefully avoided looking at either Wesley or Faith, who looked up at her answer and stared with a confused look on her face.

"You don't have one…wait…I thought that all slayers had to have a watcher," Faith said from across the room as she pulled out the computer chair and sat down.  

"They're all supposed to…Dawn, what did Giles say," Wesley asked with a concerned look on his face as he sat down in the front row a few chairs away from Dawn.  

"That she needed a watcher and that I, against my better judgment, would be happy to serve as her watcher…but she said no," Giles said from the doorway as he opened the door and entered the room.

"Giles," Wesley and Faith exclaimed in unison as both froze in their tracks, eyes as large as silver dollars, as Hope just let out a giggle as she seemed to find the whole situation funny.

"It's good to see that the two of you still remember who I am…Faith…it's good to see you…alive," Giles said with a calm smirk on his face as he walked up to the desk.  

"Giles…how," Faith muttered with a very shocked and very worried look on her face as she awkwardly stood up and pushed the computer chair in.  

"I swear I didn't tell him…," Dawn said nearly in a yell as she sat fully up in her seat and quickly slammed the Dringogen text closed.

"As to how I found you well…the Dean here is an old associate of an old friend of mine, he sends my friend the campus newsletter, needless to say I was shocked to see your faces in there…and that you have a daughter," Giles said with a look of at first some pride before his look changed to a big smile that would befit a grandfather as his gaze shifted from Wesley and Faith to Hope.  

"Damn…I knew we shouldn't have let them take those pictures," Faith muttered angrily under her breath as she pulled the computer chair back out and sat down.  

END OF CHAPTER 6


	7. A History Of Love And Rememberance

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 7-A HISTORY OF LOVE AND REMEMBERANCE**

Angel awoke to Gwen coming out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.  They had gone to a show the night before, one that Angel had forced himself to sit through, and for a short time during the show he actually caught himself paying attention.  Gwen had loved the show, going so far as to regale Angel with the show's history.  Although he had tried to not enjoy himself Angel had to admit that there had been times during the night that he actually had fun.  Against his better judgment he did have to admit that seeing Gwen in that way, still wet and glistening from the shower, did stir some feelings that he had thought been long since abandoned.  After Liam's birth Cordelia had tried to stay out of Angel's sight as much as possible, for fear that his anger would overwhelm him and he'd hurt the baby or someone else.  Gwen on the other hand had taken that opportunity, and any other that presented itself, to do anything with Angel.  As he watched the former thief sift through one of her bags, hitching her towel up and bending over just far enough that Angel tried his best not to stare, he contemplated the competition that had begun between the two women after Liam was around two.  Neither would have openly admitted their rivalry but anyone that met them knew that they disliked each other, although Angel had always had a sneaking suspicion that if he were taken out of the mix and the two women were around each other long enough that they would have eventually become friends.  But instead the two seemed like they would be eternal enemies, a fact that at times wreaked havoc at Angel Investigations.  

"Stop flashing me and put some clothes on Gwen…," Angel growled with a slightly angry tone to his voice as he leaned back up against the headboard of his bed and grabbed some files off of the nightstand beside his bed.

"I'm not flashing you Angel…that goes more like this…Angel," Gwen started to say with a sly smile on her face before she turned around and undid her towel, letting it drop to the floor before she called out to Angel again.  

"Yes Gwen what…," Angel started to grumble back to the former thief as he slowly raised his gaze, only to be met by the sight of Gwen standing only a few feet in front of him, nude as the day she was born, still wet from the shower.  After a few fleeting moments of looking, enough to annoy him by filling his dreams for days to come, Angel turned away and buried his face back into the files.  "I thought I told you to put some clothes on…and I'd advise you not to pull this stunt again, it makes you look desperate," Angel continued with a restrained look of anger, that hid a genuine feeling of pity, as he only lightly glanced up, completely missing the shocked and hurt look on Gwen's face before she grabbed a couple of her bags and stormed off back into the bathroom.

*                          *                          *                        *                        *                        *

"Now Faith, is that any way to talk in front of your daughter…may I," Giles started to say in an almost scolding manner before he walked up to Wesley and politely asked to hold Hope.  

"Of course," Wesley replied with a sigh as he handed Hope to Giles, who looked very much like a happy grandfather holding his first grandchild.

"You do that pretty well G…bet you're going to get a lot more practice when B has her kid," Faith said with a playful smirk on her face as she stood up and leaned up against the chalkboard, her arms crossed in front of her.  Had Giles not been used to getting pretty substantial shocks to his system every once in awhile, mostly from Buffy with a new demon or when she had first started seeing Angel and then Spike, he would have dropped Hope.  

"Her what…," Giles sputtered out in total amazement as his mind was sent reeling at Faith's words and the worried look on Dawn's face.  

"Oops…I did it again…," Faith muttered sadly as she sighed and shook her head as Dawn quickly slid the Dringogen text back into her bag.

"I guess the proverbial cat is out of the bag now…," Wesley said with an amused smile on his face as he turned back to Faith, who jokingly stuck her tongue out at him before breaking into a happy laugh and walking towards him.  

"I'm sorry Giles…they told me not to tell you, they just found out that Buffy…was pregnant and they went to tell Angel and…," Dawn stammered out, her mind running faster than her mouth, before she saw the shocked and slightly angry scowl on Giles face.  

"What…they told…him…first…before me…," Giles said with a hurt frown on his face as he suddenly looked like a very old man.  Seeing the position that he was in Faith jumped in, hoping to at least try and alleviate the problem just a bit.

"I'm sure they wanted to tell you first Giles…but the time difference and all that…and you know B…she probably wanted to tell you in person," Faith said quickly on the fly with an unsure smile on her face as she stepped forward and took Hope back from Giles before the old watcher tiredly sat down beside Dawn.  

"Right…you could look at it this way…Dawn said that Buffy and Spike are in town helping her get settled into college life…you could catch up with them…," Wesley interjected quickly with a very unsure of the situation frown on his face as he looked over at Faith, who was busying herself with checking to see if Hope's diaper needed changing.  

"Good idea Wes…just make sure that you don't say anything about us...before you only Dawn over here knew about us…and I'd like to keep the number of people that know to a minimum if it's at all possible," Faith added with a serious and almost sadly hopeful frown on her face as she held Hope a little closer to her chest.  

"Of course…but I will want to talk to the two of you later…in detail, there are some items that we need to discuss," Giles answered with a still shell-shocked frown on his face before he took a white handkerchief out of his pocket and proceeded to begin to clean his glasses.  

"What do you mean…items," Faith asked with an unsure frown on her face before she looked over at Wesley, whose face seemed to mirror her apprehension.  

"Nothing much…just things like your resurrection…how the two of you came to be married…how you found employment here…and how Hope came about…," Giles said, letting his voice trail off at the end, before Faith walked back towards him in such a way as to confront him about something.  

"How Hope came about…Giles…Hope…came about…the old fashioned way…and I truly hope that I don't have to explain it to you," Wesley interjected with a shocked look on his face as he rummaged around in his pocket for his watch.  

"What I meant was if her birth was foretold by a prophecy…like Angel's prophecy of possibly becoming human one day…but you have to admit that it is quite…strange…that a slayer and her watcher would…well…," Giles started to say through a frustrated sigh before he caught the angry scowl on Faith's face.

"Strange…there isn't anything strange about two people being in love and a child being born out of that love Giles…slayer and watcher are only titles that used to belong to us…we've moved beyond them…you should to," Faith spat out angrily at first before Hope whimpered a bit and she calmed down and finished out her reply.  

"Faith…the slayer is not just a title, it's who you are, you can't just walk away from it…no matter how much you want to…and Wesley…you…you should have," Giles spat out as if constantly on a search for the right words to say to convey the myriad of emotions that he was feeling.  

"I should have what Rupert…known better…than to fall in love with my slayer…well life doesn't always turn out like you planned does it, when I went to see Faith in prison after The Beast blotted out the sun I truly expected to hate her for everything that she did to me…but you know what Rupert…when I looked into her eyes I couldn't bring myself to hate her any longer…because I was just as bad as she was…," Wesley said with a very serious and slightly hurt frown on his face as he turned on his heel and walked back over towards Faith and the desk.  "And after that when we began to work together I found myself actually enjoying the time…but when she came to me with her plan to stop Angelus…I…didn't agree with it…but I went along with it…what choice did I have, but when I saw her…lying there in that bed…," Wesley continued with a gravely serious look on his face before it appeared more and more likely that he would shed a few tears as he remembered one of the few moments in his life that he would willingly give up his own life if only to help the woman that he loved out.  

"Wes…," Faith added softly as she walked over to him and wrapped an arm around him supportively.

"Da da…," Hope chimed in with a fearful expression on her face as she seemed to sense the sadness in her parents.

"Letting her go back to Sunnydale was hard…I knew it was the right thing to do…but a part of me wanted more than anything for her to stay in Los Angeles, I know it sounds arrogant of me but it's the truth…when she…died…I was truly ready to leave this mortal coil for good…I'd fought the good fight for long enough…lost damn near everything to…but then fate…or the Powers That Be…God…who knows…took pity on me…us, and the rest is history, or so they say," Wesley added with a very sour frown on his face as he took Hope from Faith and held her close.

"There's your answer Giles, you can think and believe whatever you want about us and what we're doing…but this is fact…the three of us here, together…whether you or anyone else likes it or not…," Faith exclaimed with a very cold yet forceful look on her face as he took her arm from around Wesley and began to walk towards Giles, who shrunk back in his chair slightly, unsure of what Faith was about to do next.  

"Whoa…I think everybody needs to take a step back here…c'mon Giles…I think we should go and see Spike and Buffy, she's probably worried about me by now," Dawn said nervously as she jumped out of her seat and grabbed Giles by the hand after slinging her bag over her shoulder.  

"I agree…this talk did not go as well as I had hoped, I still believe that we should sit down and talk about all of this, but I think that it would be prudent for us to wait until certain people's…tempers have a chance to cool down," Giles said with a very flustered look on his face before he let Dawn haul him out of the room.  For several seconds after Dawn and Giles left the room remained quiet.

"Who the hell does he think he is…talking to us like that…," Faith shouted angrily as she threw her hands up and stormed over to the door to make sure that it was fully shut and locked.  Wesley sighed heavily before responding as he slumped down into his chair, setting Hope down on his lap.  

"Faith…calm down…please," Wesley muttered softly as he let Hope grab onto a couple of his fingers and jam them into her mouth.  Faith spun around on her heel and started to protest angrily before she saw the drained frown on Wesley's face.

"Why should…fine Wes I'll let it go…for now, but why didn't you tell me all of what you told Giles along time ago," Faith started to ask angrily before she calmed down and asked the question that was truly on her mind.

"By what I told Giles you mean…what exactly," Wesley asked with a confused look on his face even though he knew exactly what Faith meant.  

"Why didn't you tell me that you wanted me to stay in L.A. with you and Angel…," Faith said with a very determined look on her face as she walked over to stand beside the desk.  Over the three years that they had been together Faith had gotten Wesley to tell her almost everything that had happened during her time in prison, but he had always been holding something back, and that simple fact had always bothered her.  

"Would you have stayed in L.A. if I had…," Wesley returned the question with one of his own as he tickled Hope behind the ear, eliciting a small giggle from the youngest member of the family.  

"Of course…well…maybe…okay no I probably wouldn't have…but I would have at least thought about it more than I did…who knows maybe I would have asked you to come with us, it always did seem kind of odd to me that nobody ever called you until you showed up with Angel to help fight…," Faith replied with a very nervous look on her face as she turned away from Wesley and the desk.

"I remember that…I think Buffy was the only one that was glad to see us…," Wesley chuckled out softly as he remembered the scene in the Summers' house that night.  

#                #                     #                          #                          #                    #              #

He and Angel had rushed off to Sunnydale after Buffy had asked for Angel to come.  After meeting with her Angel had returned to the hotel and told Wesley that Buffy had told him to go back to L.A.  That night the two tired and weary fighters had discussed all of their options.  By the morning light both knew that they weren't going to be going anywhere until the fight with the First was good and over.  When he and Angel had walked into the kitchen through the back door, Angel's blanket still burning, they had almost gotten staked on sight.  Wesley remembered several young girls staring at him with a cross of fear and uncertainty in their eyes.  Unfortunately none of the vaunted Scooby gang had been there, most of them were still trying to avoid Buffy after she had returned and reclaimed her house.  

One of the young girls that Wesley would later learn were slayers in training approached them with a loaded crossbow in her hands, aiming the point of the bolt straight at Angel's heart.  A middle aged African American man had followed her with an axe in his hands, looking ready to strike at a moments notice.  Wesley had tried to ease the tension of the situation by raising his hands up in front of him and trying to convey that they were friends.  But he had made a small but very bad error in judgment, for he had forgotten that he still had his guns with him.  And when he lifted up his arms the two handguns and the shotgun sitting in its special sheath had become clearly visible, heightening the tension even more.  Angel didn't have any better luck as with his pale complexion and the fact that the only other person that the young girls had seen using a blanket like that had been Spike they weren't ready to take any chances.  Despite the grim odds Angel had tried to press on, but the young girl with the crossbow had stuck the point of the bolt directly over Angels heart and threatened that if he didn't stand back she'd pull the trigger.  After realizing his mistake from earlier Wesley had tied his long coat closed and proceeded to ask for Buffy or Faith.  

The only response to his questions came from the man wielding the axe, as he wrongly guessed that Angel and Wesley were agents of the First and trying to trick them.  By that time Angel's patience had almost run out and the two and a half century old vampire only further exasperated the level of tension in the room when he demanded that if Buffy wasn't at home then he wanted to see Dawn.  The young girl with the crossbow had obviously heard enough and as Angel took a step forward she took further aim and let the bolt fly straight at Angel's chest.  Expecting her to make that move Angel sidestepped the bolt, letting it harmlessly fly up and bury itself into the kitchen cabinets, before he brushed her aside easily and took another step forward.  The African American man sprung into action next, swinging his axe in a downward motion, obviously trying to hack off one of Angel's limbs.  But acting fast Wesley had grabbed a rolling pin off of the counter and used it to block the downward arc of the axe, much to the shock and dismay of the man wielding it.  Wesley quickly followed up his surprise deflection of the axe with a well aimed kick to the mans stomach, causing him to double over and stagger back a few steps.  Angel took the opening and used it to his fullest advantage, quickly bypassing the remaining young girls in the room, all of whom had begun quivering with fear and dropped their weapons, and knocked the man off of his feet and almost into the next room with a vicious uppercut.  

The young girl that had previously held the crossbow struggled to load another bolt as Angel followed the mans flight back towards the ground, turning his back to her.  Just as she was about to finish loading the next bolt Wesley grabbed the crossbow out of her hands with one hand while tossing Angel the rolling pin with the other.  Seconds later, as the young girl surged forward intent on getting her crossbow back, Wesley forced her back as he pulled one of his guns and aimed it right between her eyes.  Angel caught the rolling pin with ease and was just about to knock the man out when Faith had coming flying down the stairs in a panic.  The man had taken the opportunity given him to drive the butt end of his axe into Angel's groin, causing the vampire to growl in pain and stagger backwards a few steps.  Wesley was about to go to Angel's aid when Faith rounded the corner and almost keeled over in shock at the sight of two of her best friends, one lying on the floor trying to keep from crying out in pain and the other aiming a gun at the head of a man that she had only hours earlier had sex with.  Faith had noticed the confused and somewhat hurt look in Wesley's eyes as she went to Wood's side and helped him up, using her slayer strength to keep him from doing any more damage.  

In a huff she had ordered everyone out of the room except for herself, Wood, the young girl that had aimed the crossbow at Angel, and Wesley and Angel.  What followed hadn't gone well and several times over the next couple of hours there was almost a brawl in Buffy's kitchen.  Faith kept her eyes low, avoiding the hopefully well hidden look of jealousy on Wesley's face and the simmering scowl of anger on Angel's face as she tried her best to explain the situation.  Wesley had cleared his throat at the worst parts of Faith's story, most of them being when she had hurt him, as the man had plenty of questions and only gripped his axe tighter when he found out Angel's exact identity as Spike's grandsire.  Wesley had taken some small amount of pleasure when he noticed that Faith seemed to defend him from all of both Wood and Kennedy's questions.  After those two hours Faith had come up with the suggestion that Wood and Kennedy should leave the room and try to calm down lest there be a huge fight.  Angel and Wesley had stayed in the kitchen, conversing in low voices as they tried to figure out their next move.  They agreed and Wesley had called Fred back in L.A. and asked her and the others to come to Sunnydale.

Wesley had peeked around the corner and was discomforted to see Faith taking her time in making sure that Wood was alright.  For a reason unknown to him Wesley found himself to not be able to like the man at all, feeling him as a variable that they didn't need. But he held his tongue as Faith seemed to be okay with him being there.  Angel had moved in closer as to avoid the beams of light coming in through the windows. Wesley was just about to enter the living room and demand to know what was going on when Buffy had come home from a daylight patrol and Spike came up from the basement.  After Buffy had stopped Angel and Spike from going after each other she had sat everyone down and explained everything to them, even having to physically sit in between Spike and Angel at certain parts of her story.  Afterwards had come the introductions and all of the slayers in training had regarded Angel in much the same way that they did Spike, but with Wesley they all seemed to be glad that he was there.  During that day they had crowded all around him, asking him one question after another, never letting him have any peace or quiet.  That night Wesley's only release had been the final battle.

#                    #                       #                    #                 #                  #                 #           #

"Hey I was glad to see you…but you two did kind of beat up a friend of mine," Faith protested as she started to turn around but thought better of it and stayed where she was.  

"A friend huh…he looked like more than that to me…but then again your connection to him wasn't that hard to pick up," Wesley said back with an unhappy frown on his face as he covered both of Hope's ears before Faith could come back with her explanation.  

"Wesley please…don't bring that bastard up again…all he wanted was to somehow get closer to his mother…and he used me to try and do it, I never should have slept with him," Faith started to say pleadingly as she half turned and cast a sad glance back at Wesley.

"On that we agree…but I won't press this any further as my own past has a few skeletons that I'd rather not talk about, and it doesn't matter anyway…does it…," Wesley said with an apologetic look on his face as he stood up and walked over to Faith with a sleepy Hope in his arms. 

"Nope…I have you and Hope and that's all that I need in my life…," Faith muttered softly at first but grew more determined and sure of herself as she said the words.  

"Well then what are we talking about it for…all of that happened three long years ago…back when we were very different people…and in a very different situation…," Wesley replied with a concerned but hopeful look on his face as he used his free arm to start to turn Faith back around to face him.  

"Guess we just like digging up our mistakes when they're least helpful, let's agree not to do that again okay…," Faith said with a thoughtful look on her face as she brought a hand up and scratched Wesley's chin. 

"Whatever you say Faith…out of the way shortie…," Wesley whispered back loudly before he lightly pushed Hope aside and met Faith halfway in a long and meaningful kiss.

*                    *                     *                  *                  *                      *                *          *

Across town Buffy and Spike were visiting some historical sites when they had bumped into Giles and Dawn.  The four had spent the rest of the day at a few more historical sites along with a small café where they talked for hours before they returned to Buffy and Spike's hotel room to discuss things in more detail.  More than once Dawn had to clear her throat or step on Giles' foot to keep the old watcher from spilling the beans about Wesley and Faith.  Even though neither asked both Spike and Buffy knew that there was something that Giles and Dawn weren't telling them.  Hours later after Dawn and Giles had left Buffy and Spike had decided to do their best to figure out exactly what the two were hiding from them, no matter what.

END OF CHAPTER 7


	8. Telling Giles and Preparations

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created, like Hope, Nick, Liam, and Callie.**

**Author's Note:  This story's pairings are as follows, and they'll stay that way, S/B, Fa/We, Gu/Fr, A- /?- /C- /Gw-haven't figured Angel's out quite yet.  In this and the other fanfic's of mine Angel and Buffy are very good old friends but she's with Spike and as such Angel now kind of acts like Buffy's dad or older brother, making sure that Spike gets the message that if he ever does anything to hurt her then he'll have to answer to Angel.**

**CHAPTER 8-TELLING GILES AND PREPARATIONS**

Buffy and Spike's trip to New York had been eventful but it had finally ended when they took Dawn out to dinner and then back to their hotel to talk.  Buffy had gotten back to feeling better and had even gone out on a patrol or two before Dawn had told her not to because of the baby.  Buffy had started to argue but then thought of all of the things that she and Spike could do in the meantime and her anger subsided quickly.  The next morning they had wanted to spend the entire day with Dawn, but the younger Summers' had meekly said that she had plans for the morning, ones which couldn't be changed, that she had to attend to first.  After that though Dawn had said that she was free for the rest of the day.  During the time that they waited for Dawn to return Buffy and Spike kept busy by voicing different opinions as to exactly what it was that Giles and Dawn were hiding from them.  Buffy initially suggested that Dawn was in some sort of trouble from a new demon or something like it and had contacted Giles to help her out with it.  Spike had countered that there was probably a much simpler explanation for it all.  They decided to wait until Dawn met them in their hotel room that day before they started in with their questions.  What they hadn't expected was to see a very frustrated Giles follow Dawn into their hotel room.

"Giles…what's wrong…," Buffy asked with a concerned frown on her face as she started to make the move to get up off of the bed.  She was stopped instantly by Spike's hand on her shoulder and an overprotective look in his eyes. 

"Why didn't you tell me…," Giles asked with a sullen and melancholy frown on his face as he sat down in one of the chairs and set about cleaning his glasses.  

"You mean about the job that I told you about yesterday…well…," Buffy began to say quickly as she was on the verge of beginning to ramble before a frustrated Giles interrupted her.

"No not that…I meant about the fact that you're pregnant," Giles exclaimed with a somewhat angry scowl on his face as he clenched his right hand into a fist, nearly crushing his glasses as he did so.  Sitting on the bed Spike and Buffy nearly fell off in shock before Spike tried to answer.

"Well…we kinda just…and then we…," Spike stammered out quickly as he tried to come up with a plausible explanation that wouldn't only further infuriate or hurt the old watcher. 

"Just found out a little while ago…then we kept it to ourselves for awhile as we tried to get over the initial shock of it all, before we swung through L.A. to tell Angel and then come here to help Dawn get settled in," Buffy replied with a worried frown on her face as she tried to stay calm and to not begin crying.

"And just when were you planning on telling me…when your water broke at two in the bloody morning," Giles said, starting off quietly before nearly shouting the last part in frustration, as he tightly gripped the armrests of the chair.  

"She…we…thought that you might be…disappointed…in her…me…us…," Spike mumbled out, with only quick glances aimed up at Giles' face before his gaze returned to Buffy's face to try and keep her calm.  For a second the room was quiet as an extremely nervous Spike and Buffy waited for Giles' most likely angry response.  Spike cringed as Giles stood up and walked over towards the bed, half expecting the old watcher to try and stake him even though he was no longer a vampire.   Instead whatever anger or malice that Giles had towards the two of them for not telling him faded away and the old watcher wrapped his arms comfortingly around Buffy as she began to cry into his shoulder.  

"I could never be disappointed with you Buffy…," Giles whispered softly to Buffy as across the room Dawn was simply beaming with pride that at least one secret was out while Spike let out the breath that he had been holding ever since Giles had stood up.  

"Whew…glad that's over…," Dawn whispered softly to herself as she stood up and made sure that her bag holding the Dringogen texts was safely out of view and that no one saw her do it.

*                *                 *                 *                  *                *                  *                *         

After Wesley's afternoon class he and Faith had taken Hope back home and tried to fit planting their newest bed of flowers in before Faith had to leave to do her radio show.  When they had first moved to New York Wesley had tried to find hobbies for Faith, and other than knitting Faith had discovered that she actually had quite the green thumb when she put her mind, and Wesley's back, to it.  After buying the property the two had spent much of the last year, that time spent not in school or taking care of Hope and doing things with their friends, remodeling the outside of the house as well as the inside.  The two had enough memories to last a lifetime about having paint fights amongst other home improvement ventures.  Fights where the two would end up covering each other in paint and then take a shower together and not notice as the water turned into a mini rainbow before going down the drain.  They had removed several trees in the front yard and only a couple in the back yard.  The flower beds and garden had come along slowly, mostly as a way for the young couple to get out some of their frustrations in a non violent way.  Another plus was that it could be some good time spent with each other and with Hope, who seemed to love the outdoors.  But no matter how hard they tried those days would always end up with Hope needing a bath because she had somehow gotten completely filthy.  Neither Wesley nor Faith could ever figure out exactly how she got so dirty, considering she was always in the shade and always either in her car seat or in a playpen.  

The garden was situated a short walk away from the house near the beginning of a line of trees.  Trying to eat better than they had before Wesley had purchased a great deal of fruits and vegetables before letting Faith choose exactly where and how they were to be planted.  Their first garden hadn't been very big, but the second year they had doubled the size of the garden and it now took a fairly large amount of time to properly care for.  Oftentimes training sessions in the barn would be either preempted or cut short so as to save time to work on the garden.  They had even planted a small patch of garlic in one of the corners.  Most of the food that came from the garden was used in their cooking experiments, with the rest being given out to the few friends that they had made.  Luckily for them Faith had discovered that Hope actually liked the real vegetables better, all mashed up and softened, than the baby food that they started out buying at the store.  

The bed of flowers had gone in quicker than they had thought, prompting Faith to call into the radio station and say that she was sick and couldn't make it that night.  Luckily for her there had been a particularly nasty cold going around. So when Faith had called and said that she felt like she might be coming down with it the station manager had been more than eager for her to stay home and get a good nights sleep.  That being done Faith called Nick and Callie and the two reluctantly agreed to come over and baby-sit Hope for the night.

"And just where are we going to be that we need Nick and Callie to come and baby-sit for us," Wesley asked with a quizzical frown on his face as he came out of the bathroom, clad only in a towel and using another to dry off his hair, which he had allowed to grow slightly.  

"You said last week that there had been a lot of vampiric activity down on the waterfront…so…," Faith teased with the look on her face that she always used when she wanted to either go somewhere or do something that Wesley might not approve of wholeheartedly.  

"So…you want to blow off a little steam by hitting something that can actually hit back…am I right…," Wesley replied with a warm smile on his face as he opened the dresser drawers and laid his one towel on the bed before removing the other.  

"Something like that yeah…," Faith said with a tempted smirk on her face before she picked up the towel that Wesley had laid on the bed and began to wind it up from end to end.  

"Somehow I knew that you were going to say tha…yeow…," Wesley started to say with an amused smirk before Faith wound the wet towel up as tightly as it would go and then snapped the end of it into Wesley's behind , causing him to yelp in pain and shock. Faith erupted in an excited giggle as she hopped back a couple of feet and started to wind the towel up again.  Wesley started to inquire as to why Faith had hit him with the towel as he spun around quickly.  But the reason became clear when he saw the particular smirk that Faith wore.  It was the same smirk that she always wore when she wanted only one thing.  But it was quickly apparent that she was expecting to fight a little first.  Shrugging his shoulders and sighing softly with a sly smirk on his face Wesley dodged the next attack before he was able to lunge forward and lock his arms around Faith's midsection.  Before she could react he pushed her back into the bathroom and towards the shower.

"Wes…wait…," Was all that Faith could get out before Wesley reached around behind Faith and turned on the shower, sending a steady stream of warm water flooding over them both, instantly soaking them both to the bone.  Faith tried to yell at Wesley but all she could do was sputter her way through a curse as Wesley deftly slipped Faith out of her clothes.  Back in the bedroom Hope sat in her playpen, her gaze intently fixed on her reflection in the small mirror that Faith had given her.  "Okay, okay…I give…," Faith exclaimed with a joking smile before Wesley pulled her close and planted his lips onto hers in a teasing kiss.

"Sorry dear…but it's to late for that…," Wesley added after breaking the kiss as Faith wiped her bangs off of her face and ran a hand through her hair.

"What about Hope…," Faith asked softly, with the beginnings of a smile on the edges of her mouth, as she reached up and softly and seductively ran her index finger along Wesley's jaw.

"She's got enough toys to keep her busy for awhile," Wesley mumbled with a sweet smile on his face as he put his hand behind Faith's head and pulled her into a long, passionate kiss.   They were both almost out of breath before they broke the seal on their lips.  Faith smiled seductively as she softly ran her hand across Wesley's chest and then down his stomach, pausing slightly at the bullet scar before continuing her hands descent.  

"Guess that means we can have some fun," Faith said with a saucy snicker as she pushed Wesley back up against the wall of the shower and then down onto the small seat on the side.  As she leaned down and kissed the top of Wesley's head Faith straddled Wesley with her legs on the outside of his.  The next several minutes were washed away in a flood of joy and ecstasy for the two.  In fact when they first heard the noise they thought that it was only the old furnace in the basement kicking on.  But as they stopped and listened to it they recognized the sound of their doorbell.  "Fuck…," Faith muttered sadly with a hint of thinly veiled anger in her voice as she stood up and turned around to shut off the shower.  

"Who could that be…we haven't even called Callie or Nick," Wesley said with a frustrated sigh as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Well you'd better go see who it is…if it's someone from the station remember I'm sick tonight…and don't worry I'll get your clothes ready…," Faith said with a look of abbreviated joy on her face as she shrugged her shoulders and climbed out of the shower, draping a towel over her shoulder as she went.

"Fine…," Wesley grumbled in response as he climbed out of the shower and quickly dried off as best he could before he slipped on an old pair of sweatpants and pulled on an old shirt before going to the door.  Faith meanwhile dried off and went about getting their clothes out for the night.  As he went to the door the doorbell kept ringing.  "Yes what…Nick…Callie…we were just about to call you…," Wesley said in some shock as he stared out at Nick and Callie, who looked somewhat nervously back at him.

"You were…oh…well guess you don't have to now…," Callie said with an embarrassed smile on her face as Wesley ushered the two into the front entryway.

"You're right, but may I ask why you're here…," Wesley asked calmly as he followed Callie and Nick into the kitchen and the trio sat down at the kitchen table before Nick spoke up.

"A friend of mine down at the docks said that workers were starting to go missing, and the police weren't finding anything," Nick said with a concerned frown on his face as he nervously popped his knuckles, prompting a disapproving frown from Callie.  

"And you think that the reason that the police have yet to find anything is because these disappearances is the result of vampire activity in the area," Wesley asked, not reacting when he heard Hope fussing in the bedroom and Faith trying to calm her down.

"It's the only explanation that makes sense…one of the workmen even said that he saw one of the missing men later on…but he was acting completely different, like he wasn't himself," Callie answered clearly as she leaned back in her chair and looked back and forth between Nick and Wesley.  

"Sounds like it's a good possibility that vampires are operating near the waterfront…actually Faith and I were about to head there and have you two baby-sit Hope tonight…," Wesley replied with a serious look on his face as he stood up and walked over to the sink, idly staring at the dirty dishes.  

"Oh you were…well we don't have any plans tonight so if you're still planning on going to the waterfront to check it out we could watch Hope," Callie added before Nick could get a word in edgewise as she laid a hand on his arm.  

"Thank you…Faith's with Hope in the bedroom getting ready…we don't know how late we'll be out tonight so it could be pretty late…it all depends on if we find anything," Wesley said with a slightly tired sigh before he nodded to the couple at the table and then walked back to the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

"Well…what do Nick and Callie want," Faith asked, with a touch of annoyance in her voice, as she looked up from the bed as she was changing Hope's diaper.  

"Apparently you aren't the only one that thinks that there are vampires operating near the waterfront," Wesley answered as he took his guns out of the dresser and laid them on the bed.

"Do you really think you're going to need those…they're just vampires after all…a stake works well enough," Faith asked with a small hint of fear and apprehension in her voice as she gazed across the bed at Wesley.

"There could be anything by the waterfront Faith…vampires could only be the beginning, it's best that we go prepared for the worst," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he retrieved the bullets from a shoebox on the top shelf of the closet.

"Are you taking the shotgun to, you seemed to like using it the last time we did something like this," Faith said without looking at Wesley as she began to button Hope's sleeper back up.

"Probably, is that what you're wearing," Wesley asked with a shrug of his shoulders as he looked Faith over.  

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing," Faith asked angrily as she stood up and glared lightly at Wesley, who had already started to change his clothes.

"We're trying to hunt down and kill vampires Faith…not turn them on," Wesley replied with a small smirk on his face as he pulled on the dark blue shirt that Faith had laid out for him.  Faith started to say something as a hasty response but then calmed down and picked her words carefully.

"I'm not wearing it for them Wes…it's comfortable and I know that you like it…," Faith answered confidently as Wesley again ran his gaze over her body.  She had chosen a pair of tight black jeans topped off by a crimson short sleeved top that was cut low in front and hugged every curve of her body.  Above her belt there was just enough skin showing that Faith's pierced navel.  All in all Wesley loved the look but didn't know if it was the best one to wear to the waterfront at night to fight vampires.

"I do…but are you sure you're going to be warm enough, it's supposed to get cold tonight," Wesley asked with some concern in his voice as he tucked his shirt in and then sat down on the corner of the bed to put his socks on.  

"I'm going to bring my jacket along…and if all else fails I'll just wears yours," Faith replied with the edges of her mouth pulled up in a smirk.

"I'll bet…and force me to freeze…," Wesley answered with a smirk of his own as he pulled on his other sock.  Faith had chosen for him a similar ensemble to her own, black jeans, a dark blue short sleeved shirt, a black long sleeved shirt that he decided against buttoning up, and a newer version of the coat that he had brought from L.A. with him.  The original had been a coat that he had customized so that he could easily conceal his two pistols and his shotgun.  The old one had been consumed by fire in a fight against a Fyarl demon after it had accidentally severed a natural gas nozzle.  Thinking ahead he stood up and reached into the closet and pulled out his heaviest flannel shirt, as he bet that they'd need it before the night was over.  

"Dang…ya got it on your first try…come on let's go," Faith said with a fake look of hurt on her face as she opened the bottom drawer of her nightstand and pulled out a few stakes.  

"Right behind you honey," Wesley said with an invigorated smile on his face before he walked around the bed, planted a lingering kiss on Faith, and then picked Hope up and followed Faith into the kitchen.

END OF CHAPTER 8


	9. HeyI Know You

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 9-HEY…I KNOW YOU**

After quickly making the arrangements with Nick and Callie Wesley and Faith got into his SUV and headed off for the waterfront.  The night had quickly become colder than either had anticipated.  So cold in fact that for the first hour of their patrol Faith stuck very close beside Wesley, using his body as a windbreak as she hid behind him, trying to keep her teeth from chattering to loudly.  Wesley had offered her the flannel shirt that he had brought with them but Faith had retorted that she looked terrible in flannel and that the shirt would only hamper her fighting.  After that first hour the two had come across a small group of vampires draining the crew of a small fishing boat.  Faith had bounded in with her usual biting remark and killer smile, swiveling her hips slightly so as to try and throw the vampires off guard.  Wesley had followed closely behind, but from the other side of the ship, using Faith's lithe form as a distraction to keep his advance a secret until just the right time.  

The group of vampires finally noticed Wesley after he had dusted a particularly ugly vampire that had been ogling Faith.  The subsequent fight spilled over across the entire deck of the ship with Faith having fun by using the different articles on the deck to help her fight.  When she had gotten knocked up against a locker in the aft portion of the ship the force of Faith's body hitting it had snapped it open, revealing a couple of newly sharpened harpoons.  Those two harpoons soon found homes in the bodies of the vampires that had chased her over the deck of the ship.  Wesley was having a somewhat more difficult time with the vampires that charged towards him.  They had been able to force him down into the hold of the ship via brute force and a rather large vampire knocking him down the steps by throwing a rune covered knife towards the former watcher.  In his attempts to avoid the knife Wesley had stumbled backwards and tripped over a stray line of rope before tumbling down the stairs.  Faith had her back turned to that area of the ship so she'd didn't see Wesley's fall.  Instead she continued on her fight and dusted the last few remaining vampires in front of her before she turned around and looked for Wesley, becoming very concerned when she couldn't see him.  

The answer that she was looking for came when one of the vampires that had been attacking Wesley had climbed to the top of the stairs and hastily retreated back down after seeing her.  With a growing pit of dread in her stomach Faith picked up one of the harpoons and raced for the stairs, virtually sliding down the guard rail.  Her enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of the fight instantly.  She dusted the first vampire that ventured near her before she burst into the engine room.  From her perch at the top she could see Wesley struggling against the large vampire that she had seen earlier.  The vampire was trying to drive the point of its knife straight into Wesley's heart.  To her horror Faith saw a fair amount of blood sliding its way down Wesley's cheek.  Fighting back her fears, fears only compounded by the suddenly sick feeling in her stomach, she leapt over the railing and slipped out a stake and drove it home, right into the vampire's heart, as she landed.  The vampire exploded into a thick cloud of dust before Wesley slumped to his knees, his breathing labored.

Faith instantly rushes to his side, but before she can utter a solitary syllable her slayer sense picks up that there's another vampire still lurking around somewhere.  To her surprise her initial reaction was not to fight, as it had for many years in the past.  Instead her initial reaction was to get Wesley out of danger and then make sure that he was safe.  The realization of that fact shook her a bit, but not for to long.  Thankful for her slayer strength she put Wesley's left arm around her shoulders and wrapped her right arm around his waist before hauling him back up to his feet.

"Come on Wes…we gotta get out of here…company's on the way…and not the good kind," Faith whispered with what she thought was her best emotionless voice but Wesley, even in his pained state, knew better.  When they had first started their relationship Faith's emotions and moods had mostly been a mystery to Wesley, and Wesley's to Faith.  But over time the two had slowly begun to recognize the subtle differences in each other's voices and actions.  Wesley learned that whenever Faith was trying to be brave and confident but was truly scared underneath her bottom lip would quiver a bit.  And through the shooting pain in his head Wesley was able to see that Faith's lower lip was indeed quivering.  Not wanting to start an argument Wesley did his best to remain conscious and get out of the boat's hold.  Faith was forced to let Wesley sit down and rest for a few brief seconds after they exited the ships hold.  Faith could tell that the vampire that she had sensed earlier was still around somewhere, closing in on them.  "We can't stop here Wes…they're almost here…we gotta go," She choked out through labored breaths of her own as she pulled Wesley back up to his feet and started to move away from the stairs.  They had only gone a few steps when the single vampire that Faith had been sensing suddenly turned into many.  A wave of panic threw itself through her body as she took stock of her options.  With Wesley hurt as he was and her strength oddly ebbing away quicker than she expected she quickly realized that their chances didn't look very bright.  Seconds later her worst fears came true when what seemed like a dozen vampires stormed, game faces on, up the gangplank and onto the ship.

"Slayer…," They all seemed to hiss in unison, as if the word itself was poisonous or could hurt them in and of itself.  

"Hmpf…guess you're not as stupid as you look," Faith retorted, trying to keep her cool and calm exterior in check while her insides were being tied into knots.

"You fleshbags should have known better than to come here…and now you're going to pay for your mistake…and for ramming my head into the bar…you nearly broke my other horn off," a cowardly looking demon said with a definite angry tone to its voice as it stepped in front of the assembled group of vampires and glared at Faith and Wesley.

"Have we met…," Faith asked, her face scrunched up in confusion, as at her side Wesley thankfully began to feel the pain in his head subsiding a bit.

"Have we met…heh…stupid humans, you two came into the bar when you were looking for Angelus…nearly blew my head off," The demon answered with a look of defiance in its small beady eyes.

"Ah…now I remember…Francis was it," Wesley stuttered out with a confident grin on his face as enough strength returned to his legs that he was able to stand without Faith's help.  Faith kept the confused scowl on her face for a few seconds longer before she remembered that night in the bar and how the small demon had tried lying to their faces before Wesley had unceremoniously blown the head off of a stupid Strom demon. He had  then pointed the barrel of his shotgun squarely at the demon now standing in front of them and asked the important question of whether the demons face would return as well.  After that Francis had readily complied and told them another few pieces of the puzzle that was the whereabouts of Angelus.  

"To bad there's not another bar around…guess we won't be able to truly…relive...the experience," Faith chimed in with a fake look of sadness on her face, one that caused Wesley to smirk because it was obvious to him what game Faith had begun playing with the demon.

"Then that means that we'll just have to pick up where we left off," Wesley said with a mysterious smirk on his face before he pulled out his shotgun and leveled it at the now cowering demon.  

"Again with the guns…I swear man…you have issues…," Francis retorted quickly, trying desperately to set himself apart from the cowering mass he had been only seconds before.

"Everybody needs a hobby…," Faith shot back with her usual energized smile spread across her face as he balled her hands into fists, preparing herself for the fight that she guessed was soon to come.  

"Cooking…stamp collecting…figurine making…now those are hobbies…," Francis cackled back with a nostalgic sigh before he shook it off because of the odd looks that he was getting from the vampires nearby.  

"Maybe for an old woman…," Wesley started to say with a mocking smirk on his face before the rest of his sentence was cut off by the charge of the vampires that surrounded Francis. 

*                           *                          *                           *                           *                    *

After the incident with the bathrobe Gwen had almost completely clammed up.  However this time, unlike those previous, Gwen didn't bounce back very quickly.  Angel was surprised by the fact that she wouldn't speak a word to him, let alone look at him.  Because of the soul Angel felt a pang of guilt at how he had treated Gwen, but a part of him also knew that she had deserved it.  Uncertain of exactly what to do he had waited for nightfall before venturing out into the city to try and clear his head.  He checked out a few bars and likely vampire haunts, staking everything that didn't have a pulse.  He quickly discovered that New York City wasn't how he remembered it.  Old buildings that he had used as landmarks for years were gone and had been replaced by new buildings.  His wanderings finally took him down to the area that he had seen in one of his visions the night that Faith had assisted Willow in giving him back his soul.  The water still smelled pretty much the same.

"Some things never change," Angel muttered softly to himself with a content smirk before his enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of battle.  He was about to disregard it as someone with the volume on their television turned up way to far when he caught a very familiar scent in the air.  "Couldn't be…she's dead…isn't she…," Angel thought to himself with a confused scowl on his face as he turned on his heel and raced off towards the direction that the familiar scent had come from.  He hadn't gone far when he rounded a corner and came upon a large assemblage of vampires that seemed to be attacking someone that was desperately trying to hold their ground on a nearby ship.  Without a second thought Angel slipped into his game face and went into full battle mode, catching the vampires that he was charging completely off guard.  

Even though he hadn't brought even a stake along he quickly found himself being backed up against a large collection of wooden pallets.  Seizing the opportunity he lifted one vampire off of the ground and flung it straight over his shoulder.  The vampire crashed down through the first few pallets before exploding into a cloud of dust as a broken board tore through its heart.  The shattered pieces of the ruined pallets made excellent stakes, allowing Angel to get the upper hand rather quickly against the woefully inexperienced vampires that dared cross him.  The little breaks that he got in the fighting allotted him a chance to try and see who the vampires were trying so hard to take out.  A couple of times he caught sight of a short woman that was more than holding her own against the onslaught.  There was something vaguely familiar about the woman but at the moment Angel was unable to place her.  He was shocked out of his ponderings about the woman by the sounds of gunshots nearby.  Angel's heart would have skipped a beat if it had been beating as he got a clear view on the other person that was holding their ground, Wesley.  

Angel tried to yell out to his old friend but his voice caught in his throat when one of the vampires leapt at him and looped its arm around his neck.  That vampire was dusted easily enough as Angel spun around and backed up against a protruding piece of wood just far enough to dust the vampire that was attacking him without staking himself.  As Angel staked two more maniacally charging vampires the exact identity of the smell that he had picked up earlier slammed into his mind.  Faith, the vampire slayer that he had seen die in the final battle with the First a little over three years ago, was somehow alive and kicking, and with Wesley.  Angel's confidence grew as he saw the number of vampires attacking them beginning to dwindle.  Where there had once been around twenty that number was now down to more like ten or so.  Using that newfound confidence Angel surged forward, intent on taking the fight to the vampires instead of just reacting to their attacks.  That plan was quickened by the condition that he saw Wesley was in, tiring quickly and bleeding from a wound on the side of the head.  

To Angel's amazement Faith dusted two more vampires and then raced to Wesley's side with a look on her face that Angel had never seen her wear when it came to Wesley, extreme fear of possibly losing him.  Shaking off his confusion Angel raced forward and blocked the swing of a vampire that was trying to catch Faith off guard and drive its knife into her back.  Instead that vampire exploded into a billowing cloud of dust as Angel drove his well used stake through its heart and grinned widely as the last few remaining vampires looked nervously at each other before turning and taking off as fast as their legs could take them.  Angel was about to say something to Faith when a small green demon glared at him before also turning and running away, yelling as it went, "This isn't over fleshbags!"  Faith started to turn her head to shout a biting remark but the words caught in her throat when she locked gazes with Angel.  

"Faith…you're alive…how," Angel stammered out, overjoyed at the sight of one of his oldest friends being alive so long after he thought, no knew her to be dead.

"No time Angel…we gotta get out of here, Wesley's hurt," Faith said with a thoroughly scared look on her face, a look that Angel hadn't seen to many times before.  And each of those times the cause of that look had been something serious.  Angel began to ask why Faith was so worried about Wesley when a shiny glint caught his eye.  A confused look passed over his face when he saw what was emitting the glint.  On Faith's left ring finger sat one hell of a rock.  His confusion growing some of Angel's questions were answered when he turned his gaze to Wesley and saw the gold band on Wesley's left ring finger.  

"Faith…what's going on," Angel asked with a confused frown on his face as he helped a startled Wesley stand up straight.

"We'll tell you later Angel…it's late, we should get home," Wesley interjected with a tired and slightly pained grimace on his face as he started to take a few staggered steps forward.  

"I just hope that Nick and Callie don't get spooked," Faith added with a concerned frown on her face as Wesley seemed to find his footing and only needed a hand on Faith's shoulder, a shoulder that Angel was shocked to see that Faith was all to willing to provide.  As the trio walked back towards where Wesley had parked his SUV Angel studied the pair walking a few feet in front of him.  In the three years since he had seen them Wesley seemed to have changed little, with the only real noticeable change being that he no longer bore the appearance of a man haunted by the mistakes of his past.  Instead he looked like a man who had everything that he could ever want and was happy with his life.  On the other hand to Angel Faith had changed dramatically, she was still as dangerous and sexy as ever but even though he couldn't exactly put his finger on it he could easily see that something had happened to her.  The three years had been good to her, like Wesley she seemed to no longer be worried about what people thought of her, caring only for what Wesley thought of her.  

They made it back to Wesley's SUV without any further inconvenience and Wesley tried to get behind the wheel but Faith balked vehemently at the idea and almost pushed him into the passenger seat.  Angel just tried to stay out of their way as he slid into the back seat and shut the door.  On the drive home the three didn't talk very much, each one unsure of exactly what to say or how to say it.  Before Faith's death Angel had been one of her closest friends, if not her closest.  She could confide in him about anything that was bothering her…anything.  But now she seemed to be able to form the words to tell him why she had pretended to be dead for the past three years.  Wesley meanwhile spent much of the ride home trying to stay awake, a feat made easier by the times that Faith would slip a hand away from the wheel and slowly draw circles with her thumb in the palm of his hand.  For his part Angel sat in silence, taking in the various scents that greeted him.  Apart from the overwhelming scent, that still confused him a bit, that made it seem that Faith and Wesley bathed in each other were many other scents that only furthered Angel's confusion.  They were the smells that he remembered from Connor's childhood and then currently with Liam.  The scent of a child and the various assortments of items that went along with keeping them happy and clean were very strong in the back seat near where he was sitting, so much so that he had to roll down the window a bit.  

Angel watched out of the window as they left the city and headed out into the country.  At times he wanted to ask where exactly they were going but he decided against it and just sat back and watched the miles go by as he relished being in the company of two old friends again.  When Faith finally steered the SUV into a driveway Angel was impressed, initially he had guessed that their home would be in an apartment building or something like that.  But the house and yard that spread out in front of him reminded him more of some of the estates that he had seen during his time in the Deep South.

"Wow…how did you afford all of this…," Angel asked innocently at first before he realized what he was saying and stopped abruptly.  If it were possible for him to blush in shame and embarrassment he would have.  

"We'll explain everything once we get inside," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he looked over at Faith, who wore the same frown, before she parked the SUV in the garage and shut the engine off.

"Good…because I have a lot of questions…," Angel said with a very serious but not angry look on his face and tone to his voice as the three got out of the SUV and headed towards the house.

END OF CHAPTER 9


	10. The Big Sit Down Interview

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 10-THE BIG SIT-DOWN INTERVIEW**

Reluctantly Angel agreed to wait out in the garage with Wesley until Faith had thanked Nick and Callie for staying so late and seen them to their car.  Faith had lied and said that Wesley was changing the oil in the SUV, and luckily for her that lie had been enough.  Angel listened intently to the short conversation, trying to glean as much information as he could so that when he began to ask his questions he wouldn't look like a fool, while trying to make sure that Wesley stayed alert.  From a quick glance around the garage Angel was surprised to notice how normal it all looked, no easily visible weapons of any kind, just gardening tools and many of the other assorted items that one would expect to find in someone's garage.  All in all the whole scene only furthered Angel's confusion before Faith whispered loudly that the coast was clear for Angel and Wesley to enter the house.  Just before Angel got to the door Faith smiled sheepishly and invited him in.  Angel let Wesley walk in front of him, taking note at the amount of care and concern that Faith took in guiding him to a recliner.  Angel was about to charge into his first question when Faith disappeared out of the room and could be heard rummaging around through drawers before running some water.  Seconds later Faith walked back into the living room carrying a roll of paper towels, a small first aid kit, and a medium sized bowl of water.  She set the items down and went about cleaning Wesley up before she noticed Angel's uncomfortable look.

"So…ya gonna sit there all night or ask a question before your head explodes," Wesley asked with a sarcastic grin on his face, a grin that Angel was slightly shocked to see Faith possessing as well.  Angel leaned back with a confused frown on his face for a few seconds before trying to ask his first question.

"What…I mean…how…you died…but you're here…and the two of you…," Angel stammered out before nervously running a hand through his hair and looking away.

"Are married…big shock I know…was to us to at first…but after Hope came along it just seemed like the thing to do…and so far I have to say…no complaints," Faith answered with a patient look on her face as she dipped one of the paper towels into the bowl of water.

"Wait…Hope…who's Hope…," Angel started to ask with a confused frown on his face before a loud cry from another room interrupted him.  Wesley and Faith shared a look of panic and uncertainty, that wasn't lost on Angel, before Wesley sighed and nodded his head.

"Wait here…I'll be right back…," Faith said nervously as she stood up and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear before walking slowly out of the room.

"Where is she going…," Angel asked in a soft whisper, trying his best to not do or say anything rash or insensitive, as he leaned forward towards Wesley.

"You'll see…but I feel that I should warn you…Hope does have quite the set of lungs…just like her mother," Wesley replied with at first a serious look on his face before he finished with a look on his face as if he were trying to tell a secret and was afraid of getting caught.

"I heard that…," Faith yelled out from a few rooms over, making both Wesley and Angel cringe a bit before beginning to relax.

"This is all yours, the house the yard…all of it," Angel asked with a very impressed smile on his face as he stood up and walked around the room, looking everything over like an assessor would.

"Yes…it's all ours…after my father was killed along with the rest of the council I…appropriated enough funds to get us started here," Wesley replied with a proud shrug of his shoulders as he leaned over and wetted a paper towel before using it to clean his hands, neck, and face.

"So in other words you stole as much money as you could when what was left of the council had its trousers down," Angel added with an amused laugh as he clasped his hands together behind his back and half turned back to Wesley.

"I didn't steal anything Angel…a good deal of the money was mine to begin with…as for the rest I took most of it from some of the councils more…shady…business dealings," Wesley answered with a very sure of himself frown on his face before Faith's entrance back into the room interrupted their conversation.

"Look who wanted to meet her long lost uncle Angel," Faith chimed in with a very relieved smile on her face as she slowly walked back into the living room, carrying a somewhat sleepy Hope in her arms.  Had he been human Angel's breath would have caught in his throat and his heart would have stopped at the sight of Faith holding a baby, that was hers, more importantly hers and Wesley's.  Angel had always expected that one day Faith would show up on his doorstep pregnant and alone.  He had never expected her to find anyone to spend the rest of her life with, sure he had always hoped that she would meet such a man out somewhere in her travels, but as time went on he began to slowly doubt that dream more and more.  It was plainly obvious that Faith and Hope were related, as after one look at Hope's cherub-like face he guessed that she looked just like Faith did at that age.  Even then Faith and Hope both had the same complexion and that unruly dark brown hair. Angel couldn't see much of Wesley in her but he guessed that the traits that she got from Wesley were the ones that would show up later on.

"She…she's beautiful," Angel gasped out with an overwhelming sigh of relief as all of the fears and sleepless nights that he had endured wondering about his two best friends could now end once and for all, and on an extremely happy note.

"Thank you…luckily for us she looks like Faith," Wesley chimed in with a slightly joking smirk on his face as he turned his head back and smiled even further when Hope gleefully mumbled back, "Da…da!"

"Ya got that right Wes," Faith said with an equally happy smirk on her face as Angel heard her heart rate speed up along with what sounded like an echo of sorts.

"How old is she…," Angel asked with a small bit of confusion still remaining in his mind about all that he was seeing and hearing.

"She'll be eighteen months old in a few weeks, I found out that I was pregnant about a year or so after we left Sunnydale…and about nine months later…," Faith replied with a tired frown on her face as she sat down on the couch and moved the paper away so that Hope wouldn't try to grab it and jam it into her mouth.

"Why…didn't you guys say something…contact us…we could've helped you…," Angel asked regretfully as all of the things that he had missed out on came flooding into his mind.  

"Wesley and I wanted to do it on our own…and for the first time in my life I was beginning to know what it was like to be happy Angel…really happy…and I just guess that…," Faith said sadly as she tried to keep Hope from the newspapers, which ended up being a constant job.

"We didn't want to lose what we had found…surprising as it was, we were both comfortable with it and we thought that you would probably have your own problems and that we'd only add to them," Wesley added with an equally solemn frown on his face before a small smile spread itself across his face as Hope hiccupped.  Angel stayed silent for a moment, acting as if he were about to respond angrily, but he sighed and threw up his hands in defeat.

"You wouldn't have done that…really…but it's all in the past, and now that I know you two are alright there'll be plenty of time to talk about everything later…but now you know that you'll have to at least come back and visit everyone," Angel replied with a tired but happy look on his face as he picked the newspapers up off of the couch and set them in the basket nearby before sitting down on the couch opposite Faith.  

"Sure…but let's not rush things…maybe when there's a break for Thanksgiving or Christmas," Faith said with a reluctant smile on her face as she looked over at Wesley, who seemed to share her uneasiness.  Angel noticed the uneasy look between the two but decided that it was best not to say anything; instead he put on his best smile and turned back to Faith.

"Can I…hold her," Angel asked meekly as he leaned forward slightly and let Hope grab hold of his index finger.  

"Sure…," Faith answered with a willing smile on her face before she stood up and handed Hope to Angel, who seemed happy to be holding her but nervous just the same.  

"You're a natural Angel," Wesley added with a joking smirk on his face as Faith stood by his side, her hand on his shoulder.  Angel only smile in response as he held Hope, who seemed to be the least bit afraid or unhappy.  A few seconds later Angel momentarily slipped his game face on before going back to his human visage.  Liam had been thoroughly terrified of Angel when he did that, but Hope seemed to take it in stride, giggling in fact.

"What's with the presto-chango Angel…," Faith asked with a worried frown on her face as unbeknownst to her she squeezed Wesley's shoulder and her fingernails dug in deeply.

"Just checking something, Liam…that's Cordelia and Connor's…son, he always runs away when I slip my game face on, and Anya and Xander's son Christopher always loved it…I guess Hope doesn't mind it much either…," Angel replied with an excited smile on his face before he noticed the slightly worried look on Faith's face.  "What's wrong Faith…you look like you thought that I'd…," Angel asked with a confused and slightly hurt frown on his face as he looked up at Faith.

"I know you wouldn't hurt her Angel…I guess it was just my motherly instincts kicking into overdrive…sorry," Faith said with a slightly uncomfortable smile on her face before she took her fingernails out of Wesley's shoulder and walked back to the couch.

"Forget about it…after Liam was born I accidentally slipped my game face on around him and Cordelia nearly staked me…," Angel said with a relieved shrug of his shoulders before he gave Hope back to Faith.

"Of course…but now I really should get this little lady back to bed, it's way past her bedtime, and I still have to call the Dean and tell him that you're not coming in for a couple of days and to have Professor Whedon or Professor Boreanaz fill in for you," Faith said through a long yawn before she turned around and silenced Wesley's confused look with a stern one of her own and left the room.

"What was that all about…," Angel asked with a nervous frown on his face as he turned back to Wesley, who sigh and shook his head before responding.

"She's just worried about me, she does this every time I get hurt, and the funny thing is that when she gets hurt I nearly have to tie her to the bed to keep her home…," Wesley replied with a slightly amused smirk on his face as his gaze started out on Angel before going to the hallway that Faith had just walked down.

"So what is it that you guys do…exactly," Angel asked with a slightly less confused look on his face than he had earlier as he stood up and began to walk around the room, stopping to look at each of the paintings and pictures that hung on the walls.

"Well I'm a professor of history at a local college and Faith is my assistant…in a way, we actually work very well together, you'd be surprised how much she's…we've both changed…and every weeknight she drives into the city to do a radio show," Wesley replied with a proud smile on his face as he stood up before returning the paper towels and the bowl of water to the kitchen.  

"You two certainly have full lives…a daughter…college life…a radio talk show…but do you ever miss the old days, helping the helpless, thwarting one apocalypse after another," Angel asked with a tired shrug of his shoulders as he followed Wesley into the kitchen before taking a seat at the table.  Wesley took a moment to think before answering.

"Honestly…," Wesley asked with a thoughtful frown on his face before he reached into the refrigerator and took out a juice bottle. 

"Yeah, it just hasn't been the same without you…Fred's tried her best, but her area of expertise is more into the science aspect of things," Angel replied with a relaxed smirk on his face as he idly smoothed out the tassel on the edge of the placemat in front of him.  

"Sometimes…I miss it, I'm sure it's the same for Faith…but we haven't completely stopped fighting the good fight, Faith and I occasionally do go out and night and reduce the vampiric population as best we can…and on the side we do consultations…," Wesley said with an almost nostalgic smile on his face before his look changed to a more determined one.  Angel's brow furrowed and he started to inquire about what Wesley had said before he was interrupted.

"Basically we help friends…or friends of a friend out with their problems that are right up our alley," Faith chimed in as she walked into the kitchen, now wearing a pair of Wesley's old sweatpants and one of his white shirts, with her hair pulled up in a ponytail.  

"So in our own way we're still helping the helpless…only now we don't have to do it to survive," Wesley added with a tired smile on his face before he scooted his chair back a bit and pulled a yawning Faith down onto his lap.  Angel quietly took note of the two's actions with an appreciative smile on his face before asking another question.

"Helping anyone I know…," Angel asked softly with an energized smile on his face as Wesley took a drink of juice and Faith straightened out the placemat in front of Wesley.

"Actually we are…in a way, Dawn, she came to see me a couple of days or so ago in need of an old book about demons that threatened to take over the world a hundred years ago," Wesley replied with a slight nod of his head as he looped one arm around Faith's waist.  

"Yeah right before Giles showed up and made an ass out of himself," Faith added angrily with an unhappy scowl on her face before she snatched Wesley's juice drink away from him and took a drink.  Angel wanted to ask about Giles but instead focused himself and pressed on.

"That wouldn't have anything to do with the apocalypse that Lorne foresaw happening somewhere in New York City would it," Angel asked with a growing look of concern on his face as he leaned forward onto the table with his elbows.  

"That depends…what else did Lorne foresee…exactly," Wesley asked with a very interested look on his face as he leaned forward, causing Faith to roll her eyes and shake her head in slight dismay.

"Here we go again," Faith whispered softly before she took another drink and set the bottle back down onto the table.  Ignoring Faith's small outburst Angel reluctantly nodded his head and said what little Lorne had been able to tell him before he and Gwen had left.

"He didn't see much, other than the apocalypse happening here…and something about fire breathing demons that lived a long time ago…is any of this sounding familiar," Angel replied with a very serious look on his face, a look that only deepened as he saw the worried scowl on Wesley's face.

"Unfortunately that sounds exactly like the problem that Dawn came to see us about…what was the name of that book that you gave her again Wes…," Faith said with an unhappy sigh as she leaned her head up against Wesley's.

"The Dringogen texts…the book tells about a cult of fire breathing demons that terrorized this area about one hundred years ago being they suddenly vanished…and haven't been seen since," Wesley said with a contemplative frown on his face before he took a drink of juice.

"Looks like we're all working on the same apocalypse…maybe I should have Fred, Gunn, and Connor catch the next flight here…maybe Cordelia and Liam to…," Angel said with an excited look in his eyes as he used his thumbnail to dig some dirt out from under his other fingernails.  

"I don't know Angel…maybe we should wait until we know whether or not we can take care of this apocalypse on our own," Wesley said with a reluctant frown on his face as he motioned that he wanted to get up and Faith jutted out her bottom lip in a pout before she slid off his lap and let him up.

"Well if they were here then they'd be able to concentrate on the researching…letting you two keep appearances up while still being able to help out when we find anything," Angel said with a growing look of acceptance on his face as Wesley politely excused himself and walked out of the kitchen.

"It certainly would save us from making the trip to L.A. sometime, and with Spike and B here…then…oh shit I forgot about them," Faith started to say sheepishly before she cursed herself for forgetting.

"Have you…I mean do they know…about all of this," Angel asked with a slightly worried frown on his face as he motioned around the kitchen.

"Not yet, all they know is that they're here to help Dawn get acclimated to college life…Dawn and Giles both agreed not to say anything to them about us, although at the rate we're going they'll probably find out about us soon enough…you know that B's pregnant right," Faith replied with an unhappy sigh as she walked over to the sink and started to fill the sink up with water to clean the dishes.  Angel gritted his teeth loudly before forcing his anger down enough to respond without yelling.

"Yeah, she and Spike stopped by in L.A. before coming out here," Angel said calmly even though his eyes told a completely different story.

"So if we're going to have this big meet and greet of the Scooby gang and the A.I. gang we have to find someplace to do it…and don't you dare even think for a second about it being here because…I…," Faith started to say with a reluctant frown of acceptance on her face before she put a hand up to her temple and winced in pain.

"Faith…what's wrong…," Angel asked with a very worried tone to his voice as he jumped up out of his chair and was at her side in seconds.

"Nothing…I'm fine…it's just that these last few days or so I've been getting headaches pretty frequently and having some bad cramps…," Faith replied, trying her best to sound positive, as she picked up a plate and began to scrub the food off of it.

"Which sounds an awful lot like what you went through before Hope was born…," Wesley exclaimed with a worried frown on his face as he walked back into the kitchen wearing almost the same outfit as Faith, except he had on a black long sleeved shirt.

"I told you already Wes…I'm not pregnant, I can't be…I'd know," Faith growled angrily before she sighed and continued with an apologetic frown on her face, "Sorry…."  

"Forget about it," Wesley replied with a worried scowl on his face as he pulled Faith away from the sink and held her close.  Watching the two Angel felt like hugging the two outright, but he stopped before he even took a single step.  He could only stand and stare as he caught the sound of a heart beating softly, one that was different from Wesley, Faith's, or Hope's.  

"I think before we call anybody you two should get some sleep…I'll finish up the dishes and then call Gwen to tell her not to expect me back until tomorrow, we can talk more in the morning, right after you take Faith to the doctor to make sure that Hope's little brother or sister is doing okay," Angel said with a very commanding tone to his voice and look on his face as he nodded politely to Wesley and Faith before walking back into the living room, taking his cell phone out of his pocket as he went.

END OF CHAPTER 10


	11. Busted, And Early Morning Musings

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**Author's Note:  Another fight's coming and no Wesley won't get hurt again, at least no more than anyone else, and a little bit more humor, I hope.  And as in all of my stories this is and will stay a S/B, as for Angel well I haven't made up my mind yet about who to pair him up with, right now Cordelia and Gwen are the two front runners, but there's still time for a write in vote-one that ISN'T Buffy.   In the next chapter everyone arrives and that fight I talked about earlier.  As always reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**CHAPTER 11-BUSTED, AND EARLY MORNING MUSINGS**

The next morning came overcast and breezy.  After their long night the morning found Wesley and Faith snuggled up tightly, with Wesley's arms wrapped securely around Faith's body, and her head lying on his chest over his heart.  Neither had experienced a particularly peaceful night, as Faith had gotten up on more than one occasion to dry heave into the toilet.  During those times Wesley had been awakened, as at times he seemed to unconsciously know when Faith was no longer near or in pain, and lay there listening with a worried lump in his throat.  Usually on Wednesday's Wesley and Faith were in early, attending a weekly meeting of some of the professors.  Wesley's Wednesday classes numbered only two; however those two classes took up the entire day.  Most of those two classes consisted of lecture, and at times Wesley was more than glad to let Faith jump in and add her own special something to the lecture.  In fact there had been more than one occasion in which Wesley had been caught watching Faith rather than his students.  After realizing what had happened Faith had always smiled and made a joke to break the tension before Wesley was allowed to continue the lecture.  But on this Wednesday morning neither felt like doing anything but staying right where they were.  The night before had been eventful enough for the both of them for days.  But with Angel staying the night and their secret most likely being fully out the two only stared at their alarm clock and moaned.  They were about to go back to sleep when, from the kitchen, they heard the sound of Hope crying.

"It's your turn…," Faith mumbled sleepily as she rolled over and buried her face into her pillow.

"No…I changed her the last time…you were in the bathroom…," Wesley whispered back through a yawn as he tried his best to position his face directly in the nape of Faith's neck.

"So…it's still your turn…," Faith whispered back with a slightly frumpy frown on her face before she rolled over and forcefully pushed Wesley out of the bed.  He landed with a loud thump and immediately sat up and glared back at Faith.

"What was that…," Wesley started to say angrily as he blinked his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision.

"Just do it Wes…please…," Faith mumbled softly with a pleading look on her face and one eye open as she suddenly looked like a very small and helpless child instead of the former rogue slayer.

"Since you put it that way…I love you," Wesley replied with a sarcastic tone at first before he uttered the last part with a voice that was full of love as he leaned over the bed and kissed Faith on the forehead.

"I love you to," Faith mumbled back sleepily with a tired smile on her face before she yawned widely and fell back to sleep as Wesley grabbed his bathrobe and stumbled out of the bedroom.  

He softly ran his hand along the wall to find his way before the world fully cam into focus and he didn't have to squint any longer.  His head still hurt but not as bad as it had on the drive home.  He stopped suddenly when he heard what he thought at first was Hope crying out in pain, but then when he listened again he realized that it wasn't Hope that had groaned in pain it was someone else.  With a worried scowl on his face he pushed open the door to the living room and almost laughed when he saw what had happened.  Sitting on the floor beside Hope and rubbing his elbow was Angel, looking well rested and mostly like he was enjoying himself.

"What's wrong with your elbow," Wesley asked with a tired yawn as he walked into the living room and sat down beside Hope, who squealed with delight upon seeing him.  Angel shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the floor before answering.

"I turned around to fast and hit in on the edge of the bookcase," Angel replied with a slight wince before he picked up one of Hope's toys off of the floor and smiled.  

"May I ask why you and my daughter are already up…," Wesley asked with a slightly concerned frown on his face as he picked Hope up into his arms and hugged her.  

"She woke me up a little while ago with her crying and I was just trying to calm her down," Angel said with a slightly reluctant smile on his face as he handed the toy to Hope, who immediately grabbed it and jammed one end into her mouth.  

"And bringing her into the living room so that she could play with her toys…you thought that would calm her down," Wesley said with a fake look of disapproval on his face as he took the toy out of Hope's mouth and wiped away a little bit of drool that was running down her chin.  

"Guess I was wrong…but she did seem to like it when I held her," Angel said with a content look on his face before he watched intently as Wesley set Hope up on her feet and aimed her directly towards Angel.  

"Let's see how this works…go to Uncle Angel Hope…," Wesley whispered softly into Hope's ear before she smiled widely and began to wobble slowly towards Angel, with Wesley following closely behind to catch her if she fell.  

"Did I mention yet how lucky you two are…," Angel asked with an uncharacteristically happy smile on his face as Hope carefully walked towards him before falling into his waiting arms.

"I think you did last night…right before you told us that Faith was pregnant…now are you positively sure that…," Wesley replied with a tired look on his face as he tied his bathrobe closed and sat back down, leaning his back against the couch.  

"Sorry Wes but I know what I heard…you and Faith are going to have a baby…again," Angel said with a smug smirk on his face as he turned Hope around and gave her another toy.  Wesley sighed deeply and looked away.  "It's what you wanted right…,"Angel asked with a concerned frown on his face as he helped Hope roll a small ball around on the floor in front of him.  

"Of course we wanted to have another baby…we just didn't expect it so soon after Hope, you should have seen Faith when she found out that she was pregnant with Hope, I slept on the couch for a good long while, before she got lonely and let me sleep beside her again," Wesley said softly at first before finishing with a joking smile on his face as Hope rolled the ball towards him.  

"Well I hope that won't happen this time…but you'll have to go pick Gwen up sometime today at our hotel and bring her here…knowing her she'll want to know everything," Angel started to say with a broad smile on his face before he sighed as he finished.  

"So then you and Gwen are…I mean…," Wesley stammered out with an uneasy frown on his face before Angel turned Hope around and aimed her back towards her father.  

"No…we're not…although she wishes we were," Angel replied with an equally uneasy frown on his face that he tried his best to hide.  

"So then you and Cordelia finally worked through…," Wesley started to say with a small sigh of relief before Angel interrupted him.

"Wrong again Wes…my relationship with Cordelia could best be described as…complicated, with Connor still around and Liam serving as a constant reminder we…and…," Angel said softly with a sad frown on his face as he stared out the window at the gloomy morning.

"I understand…it's still too painful for you, and Gwen has tried to use that to her advantage," Wesley inferred with an uncertain look on his face before he yawned widely.

"Haven't lost your gift for pointing out the obvious I see," Angel said through a short chuckle, one that made Hope look his way and babble something.  Wesley shifted in place a bit before pressing on.

"Duly noted and moving on…so how'd you break the news to everyone back in Los Angeles," Wesley asked softly while he lurched forward and bear hugged Hope, who let out a happy giggle before trying her best to reach the ball on the floor in front of her.

"Well I could hear Lorne praising the music gods in the background and Connor being his usual brooding self…," Angel started to reply with a slightly more relaxed look on his face as he pulled himself back up to his feet.

"Like father like son…," Wesley interjected with a small smirk on his face, one that Angel didn't see as he walked to the window and gazed sadly out.

"Yeah…Cordy tried her best to sound angry but she failed miserably…," Angel added with a longing sigh before he continued.  "Gunn was pretty much speechless and Fred…well she and Cordelia will probably give you two a piece of their minds when they get here tomorrow, undoubtedly they'll have called Sunnydale by then, I should warn you that today could be your last normal day around here," Angel finished with a tentative look on his face as he walked over and sat down on the couch, idly shuffling his feet.

"Just as long as they know that none of them are staying here and that Hope generally doesn't like meeting so many people at once, she's usually pretty shy around new people, once when she was six months old Faith let a student hold her for a bit while Faith made a phone call, Hope screamed bloody murder until Faith took her back," Wesley said with a slightly nostalgic smirk on his face as he stood up with Hope in his arms.  

"Then you'd better keep her away from Anya…even Spike's better with babies than she is…except for Christopher of course," Angel replied with a short laugh as he leaned back and took an unneeded breath.  Wesley cleared his throat before sitting down in his chair with Hope in his lap.

"Speaking of Spike…how are you holding up with he and Buffy being together and their good news…," Wesley asked hesitantly as he kept his gaze on Hope's face as she set about squirming around in an attempt to get free of Wesley's grip.  Angel's countenance visibly crashed through the floor before he forced himself to respond to Wesley's question.  

"I…I don't…how about you give me the grand tour," Angel finally replied with a crestfallen look on his face before he stood up abruptly and walked out of the room.

"Well the next few days are certainly going to be…interesting," Wesley mumbled sarcastically with a worried frown on his face before he stood up and followed after Angel, a slightly unhappy Hope in his arms.

*                       *                       *                            *                       *                           *

After Giles had left Buffy and Spike had tried their best to coerce Dawn into telling them what it was that she and Giles were hiding.  They thought about using the good cop-bad cop scenario first, but they quickly came to the conclusion that they'd have to think of something else.  Buffy had gone out shortly after that decision to get something to eat, against Spike's misgivings, and Spike had taken the chance to try to find out everything that he could.  While Dawn had gotten up to go to the bathroom Spike had waited until she had closed the door behind her before he went on the hunt.  It didn't take him very long to find the Dringogen texts that Dawn had jammed into her bag. He opened the cover of the old book and furrowed his brows as his gaze set upon the short note that lay inside.  On a piece of yellow notepad paper he saw:

Dawn

I hope this book answers all of your questions regarding the concerns that you brought to my attention.  If you need any help translating anything or find a passage or picture that you don't understand feel free to come and ask me, Faith and I will lend you all the time that we can spare…if all else fails you can take care of Hope while we check out a few leads.  I'm sure that she would love for her aunt Dawn to take care of her for awhile.  When you're done with this book just return it to me and I'll see that it gets back to the right place…and remember don't tell Buffy and Spike about this book or where you obtained it, if they ask…well you're a slayer, you'll think of something…I hope…

Wesley 

Spike read and reread the note at least a half dozen times before Dawn walked out of the bathroom, complaining about something that Spike didn't hear because he was too absorbed in his thoughts.  Dawn got only to the corner of the bed before she noticed her open book bag lying on the floor and the Dringogen texts in Spike's one hand, the cover open, and a yellow note in the other.  

"There something that you want to tell me Nibblet," Spike asked with a calm and almost completely emotionless look on his face, appearing to Dawn like someone that knew everything but wanted her to actually try to explain.  

"What do you mean," Dawn asked with a guilty smile on her face as she slowly and nervously walked past Spike and went to the window.  Spike squelched the small fountain of anger welling up inside him before pressing forward.

"Seems that this note that I'm holding in my hand is written to you, from someone that Peaches and his whole crew have been worrying their bloody heads off about for the past three years…not to mention that he says that a certain dead slayer can help you to, and then Hope…," Spike replied with a forced calm frown on his face as he placed the note back in its place and shut the cover of the Dringogen texts, all without turning his gaze towards Dawn. 

"Is their daughter…Hope is their daughter, okay Wesley and Faith are both alive…here's a shocker, they're married…and they've been here in New York for the past two years or so teaching at a small college outside of the city, I don't know the 411 about how or why Faith is alive and not dead…so don't ask, but I only ran into them when I went to get a book to help me with a problem," Dawn rambled out, slowly at first, before she quickened her pace and at the end left Spike glad that he had known her for a good long while, long enough to be able to decipher her and Buffy's ramblings.  

"Why didn't you tell big sis or me about this problem…didn't you want us to…," Spike started to ask with a slightly hurt look on his face as he set the Dringogen text on the bed before Dawn stepped in.  

"I knew that you'd worry and rush on over here…just like when I was the key and everybody had to protect me…I just wanted to do something on my own for a change," Dawn replied with a frumpy frown on her face as she crossed her arms dejectedly and plopped down onto the bed near Spike.  Spike exuded his usual haughty smirk before slipping an arm around Dawn's shoulders and giving her a good natured squeeze.

"It's okay pet…so Faith's alive, married, has a kid, and with her old watcher…bet she didn't see that one coming, so do I get the pleasure of telling Buffy that her old friend Faith is still alive or…," Spike started to say with a loving smile on his face as he gave Dawn another squeeze before a voice from behind stopped him.

"Faith's alive…what…how…," Buffy asked with a look of total disbelief on her face as she stood near the nightstand, her coat on and three takeout bags in her arms.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bloody bag now Nibblet…," Spike smirked before standing up and taking the takeout bags from Buffy and setting them on the table.

"You'd better sit down for this Buffy…because it's a long story and I don't want to have to repeat myself," Dawn said with a slightly fearful frown on her face as she stood up and helped guide a confused Buffy towards a waiting chair at the table that Spike had pulled out.

*                          *                         *                        *                       *                         *

Faith awoke to something that she hadn't had much of ever since Hope that been born, silence, complete and total silence.  Reluctantly she left the peace of the moment and slid out of bed.  Undressing as she went Faith entered the bathroom and threw her clothes in the hamper before shutting the door.  With a pensive and worried frown on her face Faith regarded herself in the full length mirror that Wesley had hung on the back of the door.  He used it mostly to make sure that he looked like a professor of history should, something that had garnered from Faith a long line of softly whispered jokes and ideas about her being hot for teacher.  Faith still looked greatly as she had back when Sunnydale was the main location in her life, then it had changed first to the women's prison and then to her new life in New York with Wesley and Hope.  Her face still held the look of a college freshman rather than the former rogue slayer and mother of one.  As he eyes traveled down her body her frown deepened, despite the fact that in truth she was in better shape now that she had been at any time during her slayer days.  

Back in those days she had been slim partially because of being the slayer and all of the exercise that she had gotten but also because slaying hadn't brought in to much money and she had often been forced to do without.  But those days were now long behind her with Wesley and Hope keeping her active enough.  Had she been so inclined she thought that she might have tried her hand at modeling, as one of her more love stricken students had pointed out, she was still a major babe.  But those thoughts had been quickly thrown out of her mind by the murder of a young model that she had investigated with Wesley.  At first she had thought that the murder was supernatural in nature, but after finding out a great deal about all that the young woman's life entailed the thoughts of modeling went straight out the window.  The woman's murderer ended up turning himself in and after finding out that there was nothing supernatural behind the murder Wesley and Faith had resumed their normal way of life.

"Hey in there…," Faith cooed softly with an embarrassed smirk on her face as she laid a hand on her stomach and turned sideways to look in the mirror.  When she had been pregnant with Hope Faith had been a wreck most of the time, often angry at anyone and everyone, especially Wesley.  But as the pregnancy went on she was able to calm down and at the end she began making jokes that she had turned into one of those women that years earlier she would have made an endless amount of jokes about.  "Guess I can officially kiss my girlish figure goodbye," Faith thought with a frumpy frown on her face as she gazed at her profile in the mirror.

"You okay in there…," Wesley asked softly through the door as he leaned up against it and nervously scratched his chin.  Wesley's question shook Faith out of the dreamlike state that she had been in only seconds earlier.

"Yeah…I'm just thinking…," Faith answered quietly with a slightly sad frown on her face as she turned around and sat down on the edge of the tub.

"What about…," Wesley added with a slowly growing frown of concern on his face as he stood up straight and looked down at the doorknob.

"Nothing much…," Faith replied with a hint of sadness in her voice before she had to stop talking and bite her lip to calm her emotions.

"Can I come in…," Wesley asked with now a full scowl of concern on his face as he raised his hand up to the doorknob.  He didn't have to wait long before a muffled response from Faith gave him his answer.  "What's wrong…," He asked with a worried look on his face as he slipped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.  Faith remained quiet for a few seconds before answering.

"This is all just happening a little to fast for me…first Dawn shows up, that's fine we'd probably have run into her someday anyway, then Angel shows up…not that I'm not glad to see him but…," Faith answered with a very hesitant look in her eye as try as she might to keep her resolve a solitary tear slid down her cheek.

"You're worried that everything that's coming soon will forever destroy what we've built for ourselves here aren't you, well you can stop worrying Faith, you can't run yourself ragged by thinking about the what if's and possibilities of the world, doing that nearly got me…well both of us killed on more than one occasion," Wesley said with a very sympathetic look on his face as he sat down on the side of the tub beside Faith.

"Yeah mostly, but now with this new baby everything's going to be so crazy that something very bad is bound to happen…I'm just afraid that in the end this will all come crashing down on our heads…that we won't be able to take anything for certain…that…," Faith said at first with a serious frown on her face before she had to bite her lip again to stop herself from outright sobbing.

"You want to know what I know for certain right now Faith…I know to a certainty of one hundred percent that I love you and that you love me, and that we love our daughter and the life that we've made for ourselves here…and I don't care what calamity or near apocalypse strikes…you, me, and Hope will get this through this together…and that's a bloody promise that…," Wesley said with a very serious look on his face and loving glint in his eyes at first before Faith smiled and stopped him with a soft and gentle kiss that probably would have led to more but the two were interrupted by a heartfelt inquiry from Angel and Hope.

"You two okay in there…," Angel asked with a worried frown on his face as Hope joined in with a few incoherent mumblings of her own.  

"We are now," Faith answered with a merry smile on her face as she pulled away slowly from Wesley and turned her head towards the door.  

"Angel and I are going into town to pick Gwen up and bring her here…are you going to be okay until…," Wesley started to say with a small sigh as he stood up before Faith grabbed his arm and quickly opened the door and shoved him out before closing it.

"Of course, now you two have fun…," Faith shouted softly as if trying to make the command a joke before she turned her attention back to the shower that she had originally intended to take.

END OF CHAPTER 11


	12. Of Archangel's And Angels

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created, like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 12- OF ****ARCHANGEL****'S AND ANGELS**

Wesley's ride back home with Gwen had been an ordeal, for Wesley anyway, to say the least.  Finding the hotel had been easy enough thanks to Angel's directions and after a nerve wracking few minutes he had been able to find a place to park.  Far from being his favorite person in the world back in the days that he had been working with Angel and the others Gwen had initially forced him to wait while she haggled with the front desk clerk over the bill for her and Angel's room after taking half an hour to get herself ready to leave.  After that she had spent the entire ride back to Wesley and Faith's house trying to hook him into a debate about who was better for Angel, herself or Cordelia.  Wesley had tried his best to stay out of the debate and just offer a few educated guesses but Gwen wouldn't let him and by the time they got back home Wesley was nearly ready to strangle Gwen.  He let Gwen into the house and was relieved when she plopped down on the couch and started idly flipping through the newspaper.

He had hoped that Faith would be ready to go to the doctor when he got home.  After leaving Gwen in the living room he walked back through the rest of their house towards the bedroom.  He was about to call out her name when he rounded the corner of their bedroom and his heart caught in his throat at the sight in front of him.  His two perfect angels lay on the bed, his archangel seemingly fresh from her shower, curled up in peaceful slumber, clutching his pillow tightly.  His little angel slumbered blissfully in the protective arms of her mother, blowing small snot bubbles with each breath.  Not caring whether Gwen burnt the house down, Angel lost his soul and became Angelus again, or the apocalypse hit at that moment he pulled his shoes off and carefully curled himself around his two angels.  He breathed deeply, taking in a scent that he loved so very much, that of his love after a shower.  She always smelled like freshly bloomed roses.  Many a night he had fallen to sleep with her in his arms, with the scent of roses covering them both fully.

At the back of his mind he conjectured that this would probably be one of the last few peaceful days that the three of them would have before their pasts crashed down around them wanting answers.  As he lay there he really didn't care what anyone thought of their self imposed three year exile.  All that mattered was that he had the woman he loved, a daughter that meant the world to him, and the promise of a new child on the way.  He knew that when their past came she would be barraged with one question after another, complemented by suspicious glances and murmurings.  He vowed right then and there to be there to shield her from any question or inference that he could tell that she thought to be to intrusive or pointed.  He guessed that those types of questions and looks would come mostly from Buffy and the other Scooby's, with the gang from Los Angeles staying mostly quiet, only asking a question when they didn't fully understand something.  He guessed that Fred would probably go through an entire box of tissues.  Gunn would probably want to go out for a drink and talk there while Cordy would just want to probably hold Hope, pinch her cheeks until they hurt, and introduce her to Liam.  He dared not think what fiendish predicament that Anya would inflict upon Hope.   

His dreamlike world of peaceful serenity drifted peacefully away as his archangel's eyes, rimmed by silky charcoal feathers, fluttered open.  It was true in his angel's case that the eyes were a window directly to her eternal soul.  Upon their first meeting all those years ago in the purgatory that they had once called Sunnydale he had often kept his gaze firmly fixed on the written words on the pages in front of him lest he become entrapped forever in the depths of her sight.  She regarded him softly with a smile that she held back only for him.  It was a smile so full of warmth, love, and trust that he secretly wished that he could freeze this particular moment in time and be able to recall it in his most urgent time of need.  No words were needed between them, instead he and his angel had grown close enough to only need to resort to slight eye and eyebrow movements, along with the smallest hints of a smile or frown curling the edges of their mouths.  

"Poor baby…," Faith mouthed softly with the smallest traces of a smile curling the edges of her lips as her gaze locked onto his.  With the softest touch he could muster he leaned in close and lightly brushed a kiss on her ear before his left hand found itself idly tracing a lazy circle across the bare smoothness of her stomach.  Their little angel seized the moment before it passed and came screaming back to consciousness.  He groaned softly before he tore himself away from his archangel and picked his little angel up, taking her back into the living room, after whispering to his archangel to get ready for the trip to the doctor.

"So where's Angel…," Gwen asked with an impatient frown on her face as Wesley walked back into the living room with a grumpy Hope in his arms.  

"He's probably out in the barn letting off some steam…we remodeled it and turned it into a training area," Wesley replied with at first a tired sigh before he guessed Gwen's question and answered it before she was able to utter a sound.  

"Cute kid…," Gwen said with an almost bored frown on her face before she got up and walked out of the house, making her way towards the barn, leaving Wesley standing in the living room trying to calm an angry Hope.

"Hasn't changed a bit…," Wesley mumbled with a sarcastic frown on his face before he turned on his heel and went to see how Faith was doing.

*                         *                           *                           *                     *                    *

Buffy and Spike sat in silence for several minutes as a nervous Dawn filled them in on everything that she knew about Faith and Wesley's new life.  Buffy had gasped quietly when Dawn mentioned that the two had gotten married and had a child.  During that moment Spike had taken her hand into his in an effort to try to keep her calm.  What few questions Buffy's confused mind could come up with Dawn answered quickly before Giles arrived and filled them in on more as Buffy and Spike at the food that Buffy had brought back.

"So how long have you known about…," Buffy asked softly before she took a bit out of her taco.

"Wesley and Faith…not very long, but from what I saw they seem to be doing fine…and Hope looks exactly like her mother," Giles replied with a nervous frown on his face as he leaned back in his chair and set about cleaning his glasses.  

"But why didn't they tell any of us…I mean we all thought that Faith was dead…," Buffy mumbled out through a full mouth before took the time to swallow.

"They were probably tired of the constant fighting and wanted to be two normal people in love for a while…can't say that I blame them…wholly anyway," Giles said with a slightly uncomfortable frown on his face as put his glasses back on.  

"Maybe not…but they still should have at least said something…let us know that they were okay…," Buffy mumbled back through another mouthful of her taco.  

"You're right pet, but we can't change the past no matter how much you might want to, the question right now is where do we go from here…what's our next step," Spike said with a deep in thought frown on his face as he half looked towards Buffy before he turned his gaze upwards and across the table to Giles.  

"To tell you the truth I'm not really quite sure how this is all supposed to go, but what I think that we should do first is make sure that both Faith and Wesley know that you know about their situation, and then we can take it from there, after all we don't want to overwhelm them with our presence," Giles said with a very serious and slightly unsure frown on his face as he scratched his chin and stared out of the window.  

"I agree, so what if we have Dawn go talk to them tomorrow and then we'll go from there," Buffy said with a slightly full look on her face before she wiped her mouth with her napkin. 

"I could do that," Dawn chimed in with a nervous smile on her face as she sat perched on the edge of the bed, trying in earnest to be involved in the discussion.  

"Should we call Angel first and tell him…he and Faith were…are close, not to mention with Wesley, he'd want to know," Buffy asked with an unsure frown on her face as she took a sip of her pop.  

"I already thought of that Buffy…and as it turns out he and Gwen are already here in New York City working on a case and surprisingly when I called out to L.A. Fred told me that Angel had called and told them the good news, apparently Wesley and Faith bumped into Angel while they were out patrolling last night…," Giles replied with a nervous twitch of his left eye as he poked half heartedly at the taco in front of him.  

"Guess that means that we're the last ones to know luv…as usual," Spike said in a low tone of voice to Buffy as he leaned forward and picked up a stray bit of lettuce before popping it into his mouth.  

"Anyway Anya, Xander, Christopher, and Willow's plane leaves this afternoon and they should arrive sometime very late tonight," Giles said with a slightly more authoritative tone to his voice than he had been using earlier as he pushed his chair away from the table and stood up.

"So much for taking it slow…," Buffy mumbled with a sarcastic frown on her face before she glared at Spike and slapped his hand away as he tried to sneak a little bit of her taco.  

*                             *                           *                                *                    *                     *

After he had given Wesley the directions to the hotel to pick up Gwen, along with a few pointers on how to deal with the feisty brunette, Angel had retreated to the warm confines of the barn at the back of the property.  He intended to at first just look over all that Wesley and Faith had done, but as he did so his mind drifted to thoughts of Buffy being pregnant and Spike being the father instead of him.  That thought had lit a fire in him that he knew could only be doused by as strenuous a workout as he could endure.  After the defeat of the First in Sunnydale and the subsequent news of Buffy and Spike becoming an official couple Angel found that he often spent many a night either locked in the basement of the Hyperion, beating the living hell out of the practice dummy, or going to great lengths to thin out the demon herd in Los Angeles a little.  On a few of those excursions out into the city to let off some steam Connor had accompanied him, greatly because of the prodding that he had received from Cordelia, who three years after the fact was constantly trying to repair the broken relationship that was father and son.  

Angel had been instantly impressed with the interior of the barn, from the outside what looked like your average run of the mill decrepit old barn became on the inside a well stocked and built gym.  The environment was complete with various kinds of gymnastic equipment as well as plenty of free weights and virtually an entire armory of every weapon that Angel knew existed, plus even a few that completely baffled him. Up a short flight of stairs Angel spied what looked like a very comfortable bed made on the floor with just the mattress, the sheets, the blankets, and the pillows.  Angel guessed that the bed had been placed there so that if a training session ran late Wesley and Faith could just lay Hope beside them in a little bassinette, which was easily within an arms reach of the bed, and then take the bed themselves.   Inevitably it didn't take Angel long before he had built up quite a sweat and the anger and frustration that he felt towards the situation concerning Buffy and Spike slowly began to ebb and fade away.  He started out doing some shadow swordplay with an overstuffed dummy that Wesley had hung from a sliding rail, making it easier to put away.  He chose a sword that looked like it wasn't one of Wesley or Faith's favorite's but was still a good fit for him.  He was so into his paces that he failed to notice that soon he was no longer alone.  Angel continued going through his paces for several more minutes before he saw someone out of the corner of his eye.  Spinning around on his heel he held the blade up in front of him and prepared for a fight that never came.

"Well nice to see you to Angel…," Gwen mumbled sadly with a hurt pout on her face as she tried to look Angel in the eye from her position on the sidelines but found that she couldn't not matter how hard she tried.  Instead she fixed her gaze on her feet as she swayed them back and forth.

"Gwen…uh…sorry I didn't see you…," Angel stammered out as his brain was moving much faster than his mouth and somewhere in between the signals kept getting crossed.

"So what else is new…," Gwen whispered very softly under her breath as she kept her gaze fixed on her feet.  

"Now wait a minute Gwen…I don't miss you on purpose…you know me…I'm always overlooking something or someone, it's not by design," Angel said with a slightly angry tone of voice as he took a step towards Gwen.  The tone was obviously stronger than he had wanted to use as he saw Gwen cringe slightly and turn her gaze off to the side.  

"Could've fooled me…with the cheerleader around I guess that means that I'm just second fiddle…," Gwen mumbled with a bitter scowl on her face as even though it felt good to finally say the words she feared what would come next.  

"You're not second fiddle Gwen…to anyone, least of all Cordelia…," Angel started to say with a very frustrated grimace on his face as he walked over to Gwen before he continued as he stood at her side.  "Everyday I have the two of you trying to one up each other in the hope that I'll pick one of you and spurn the other, but don't you see, in the end it demeans both of you…and in tears me up inside to see two women that I care deeply about do that to themselves," Angel added with a kind but yet very serious look on his face as he set the sword down and brought Gwen's gaze up to match his with a soft hand under her chin.  He was surprised at the face that greeted him.  Gone instantly was the cold and stoic thief that didn't care about anything or anyone and its place was the face that Angel had discovered as one growing ever harder to ignore.  She no longer resembled the woman that he had first met all of those years ago back in that vault.  When she was around the others Gwen was all business, but over the years she had begun to slowly soften up, albeit only when she and Angel were the only ones around.  

"You care…no…it's your job as the champion to care about everyone that works with you…it's…," Gwen stammered out with a look that showed Angel that she desperately wanted to believe what he was saying but a strong and scared part of her held her back.  

"No Gwen…you know the part, you play it so dutifully yourself…you keep your emotions and feelings in check, hoping that by acting that way you won't allow yourself to be hurt…but I've learned…the hard way, in the end that philosophy only gets you to the one place that you never wanted to be…all alone," Angel said with a very soft but serious look on his face and tone to his voice as he sat down beside her on the bale of hay.  

"It's here isn't it…Buffy, that's…she's why you won't get close to anyone else, you two were close…," Gwen starts to say with a slightly annoyed frown on her face as she refuses to look at Angel sitting at her side.

"To say the least…," Angel mumbles sadly before he looked on in shock and surprise as Gwen jumps up off of the bale of hale and walked over towards the rack of weapons.

"See…I knew it…you're always holding every woman up to her…and no matter who we are or what we do…in your mind we all pale by comparison…," Gwen said with a somber tone to her voice as she lightly passed her hand over the array of weapons, not wincing at the slight shocks that were caused by her hands coming into direct contact with the metal.  

"I don't think that's being very fair to…," Angel started to say with a confused and nervous frown on his face as he stood up and took a step closer to Gwen, who stopped him with a don't come any closer posture.

"Fair…what's fair Angel would be for me to have been able to lead a normal life where I didn't have to go around stealing things to make a living, a life where I could touch someone else without either frying them like an overdone steak or needing some gizmo to try and make me normal for a few hours…life isn't fair Angel, we don't always get what we want…and whether you want to admit it or not you lost Buffy Angel…you did…and until you admit that truth to yourself you'll be alone for the rest of your miserable eternity," Gwen said with almost no hint of emotion in her voice other than bitterness before she turned on her heel and started to storm past Angel out of the barn.  

"Gwen wait…," Angel started to say with a nervous sigh as he grabbed Gwen's arm and spun her around to face him.  

"No Angel you wait…," Gwen started to say before Angel pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers.

END OF CHAPTER 12


	13. I See Dead PeopleBeforehand

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Callie, Nick, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 13-I SEE DEAD PEOPLE-BEFOREHAND**

Wesley and Faith's return trip home from the hospital had been eventful, having nearly missed being struck by a speeding motorist to picking up some supplies for the influx of old friends that would soon descend on their peaceful home.  The checkup had gone well enough and the doctor had given them all of the customary information, prompting Faith to reply that she felt more like a commodity than a pregnant woman.  Wesley had politely thanked the doctor before the two left the hospital.  In her car seat Hope had mostly behaved but fussed a bit when Faith decided to carry her while Wesley pushed the cart along as they went through the supermarket.  They had hastily made a list of things that they were going to need before they had left home, with most of the items being ones that Wesley and Faith could remember Angel and the others liking.  

"What time tomorrow are they all coming again," Faith asked with a nervous frown on her face as she shifted Hope from one arm to the other.

"Sometime around ten…they would come sooner except Cordelia has to get Liam ready and Anya and Xander have to get Christopher ready and…," Wesley rambled off with an equally nervous look on his face as he took a loaf of bread off of the shelf and squeezed it lightly.  

"That should give us enough time to clean up a bit…," Faith added with a deep in thought look on her face as she lightly brushed some hair off of Hope's forehead.

"And give you the chance to get a few special items out of sight right…," Wesley quipped with a sly smile on his face as he set the loaf of bread in the cart and grabbed another.  "Hey…what was that for," Wesley exclaimed with a slightly hurt look on his face after Faith punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"I'm not going to hide anything Wesley…just make sure that everything's picked up and where it should be…and don't give me that look…," Faith started to answer with a calm look on her face before her brows furrowed and she pouted a bit at the look of disbelief that Wesley had on his face.  

"Alright…I'll remember to put your knitting supplies in the hall closet and put all of the pictures of us that don't portray your usual image in the shoebox under the bed," Wesley said with a look of calm compliance on his face before he pushed the cart forward.

"Good, I still have a reputation…or sorts, to uphold and…," Faith started to say with a proud and boasting smile on her face before she noticed a young boy staring up at her with the softest brown eyes that she'd ever seen.  His hair was almost an exact match to Wesley with the style even being about the same.  The young boy opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out, only an eerie silence.

"Faith…Faith," Wesley said with a worried look on his face as he stopped scanning the shelves beside him and stared at his wife, who stood holding there daughter and staring down into empty space.  

"Who are you," Faith asked with a troubled scowl on her face as she continued to stare down at the little boy, who simply smiled kindly in return.

"Who's who Faith…who are you talking to…," Wesley asked, growing more concerned as he looked around and saw no one else in the aisle.  

"The little boy that's staring at me…," Faith answered softly without taking her eyes off of the little boy, who giggled silently.

"What little boy Faith, there's no one else in the aisle…," Wesley asked with now a worried frown on his face as he took a step around the end of the cart and stepped in front of Faith.  Instantly she saw the image of the brown haired little boy dissipate into nothingness.  Faith's eyes grew wide and she hurriedly looked up and down the aisle before turning back to Wesley.

"Where'd he go…he was right there…," Faith asked with a look of total confusion, and a small touch of fear, as she looked back and forth between Wesley's face and where the boy had been only moments before.

"Faith…what are you talking about…I didn't see anyone…," Wesley replied with a very concerned look on his face as he took Hope from Faith.

"But he was there…a little boy was staring up at me…he had the softest brown eyes…and then he just disappeared," Faith said with a completely lost and somewhat scared look on her face before she walked to both ends of the aisle and looked around.

"I'm sorry Faith but…," Wesley started to say with a confused frown on his face as Faith returned to the cart.

"I know I saw him Wes…he was right beside me…smiling the whole time…except when he tried to talk…but when he opened his mouth there wasn't any sound…," Faith said with a frustrated look on her face as she ran a hand through her hair.

"I don't know what to say Faith…has something like this every happened to you before," Wesley started to ask before Hope interrupted with a few nonsensical mumblings.  

"No…but I swear that there was a little boy…," Faith answered with a slightly scared look on her face as she took a small step closer to Wesley.

"Maybe it was a ghost…and you saw it because you're the slayer…," Wesley said with a hopeful look on his face as he could tell from the look on Faith's face that his words weren't helping any.  

"Maybe…can you…," Faith mumbled softly with a nervous look on her face as she stepped behind the cart and started to push it down the aisle.

"Check my books when we get home and look online to see if this supermarket is haunted…consider it done Faith," Wesley replied with a reassuring look on his face before he laid a hand on Faith's shoulder and the two continued on their way down the aisle.

*                            *                           *                              *                        *                   *

After Dawn had finished telling Buffy and Spike everything that Faith and Wesley had told her, along with Giles's help, she and Spike had left so that she could show him her dorm room.  Dawn had asked Buffy if she wanted to come along but the elder slayer had said that she was a little to tired and wanted to talk to Giles about a few things.  Dawn kept quiet almost the entire way back to her dorm room, with Spike using the time to try to come to terms with what she had told them.  When they got back to the dorm the guard almost wouldn't let Spike in because the guard thought that he looked a bit like a mugger that had been wanted in the area.  It had taken Dawn a little while to convince the guard that Spike wasn't the mugger before she was able to show him up to her room.  As they went Spike felt a little nervous at all of the lustful stares that he was getting from some of the young women that he passed.  

"We almost there Bit…I hate being the center of attention," Spike asked with an uncomfortable frown on his face as he followed Dawn around a corner and started up another flight of stairs.

"Yeah…and I thought that you loved to be the center of attention," Dawn called back with a noticeable amount of amusement in her voice.

"That was back when I was undead luv…now that I've got Buffy and the baby to worry about it's best for me to lay low and stay off of most people's radar," Spike replied with a bored and uncomfortable frown on his face as the two finally got to Dawn's floor and turned down the long hall, filled with giggling freshman.

"That's smart…but was this idea yours…or did Buffy…," Dawn asked with the beginnings of a sly smile on her face as she half turned back to Spike, who was politely smiling and nodding his head at everyone that he passed by.

"It was all my idea Bit…the slay…Buffy just makes it easier to handle…," Spike answered with a tired yawn before Dawn jumped to the side of an old door and smiled proudly.  Acting very proper Dawn slowly opened the door and walked inside before turning back to Spike, who stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and a nervous frown on his face.

"What's wrong…," Dawn asked, a bit of worry creeping into her voice, as she took a step back towards Spike.

"Could stand an invitation pet…," Spike mumbled with a nervous look on his face as he looked first at Dawn and then back down the hall.

"But you don't need one do you…since you're not a vampire anymore," Dawn asked with a confused and concerned look on her face.

"No…I don't need one but…," Spike mumbled back as an answer as he shuffled his feet and fought back a nervous smile.

"Okay Spike…I invite you into my dorm room," Dawn said with a fake aristocratic accent as she bowed low and bade him to enter her room.

"Thanks luv…," Spike said back with a calm smile on his face as he walked into the room and looked around.  It looked a lot like Dawn's room back in Sunnydale, except that it was a lot large and that she shared the space with at least two other young women.

"So…what do you think…," Dawn asked with a pleading look on her face, as if she were desperately in need of his approval.  

"I like it Dawn…I do… course it could stand to have a bit better choice of a music selection but…," Spike mumbled back in his best fatherly tone of voice as he sifted through the cd's on top of Dawn's bed.

"Hey…those aren't mine…Alyson left those on my bed this morning while she was making her bed," Dawn replied with an argumentative teenager like tone to her voice and stance as she crossed her arms and glowered at Spike, who after taking the scene in burst into a short fit of merry laughter.  Dawn tried her best to keep from laughing but she had always found Spike's laughter contagious and soon the two were laughing like they hadn't in quite some time.

*                     *                        *                        *                          *                             *

Angel's kiss left her shell shocked for several seconds, unable to do anything but stand there like what she would later describe as a stupid little girl.  She hadn't been expecting the kiss, although in the back of her mind she had been hoping and praying for it ever since the two had left California.  Angel only stared back at her with the same look on his face that she saw reflected on her face in his eyes.  The kiss hadn't been the best that she had ever received but in her silent euphoria she decided that it wasn't necessarily the quality or length of the kiss that mattered but just the fact that the kiss had happened at all that was most important.  Angel chuckled a bit with a nervous smile on his face before saying anything.

"Guess I finally found a way to leave you speechless," Angel said with a sly smile on his face as he kept one arm on Gwen's side and the other around her slim waist.

"You wish pal…," Gwen teased back with a mock look of anger on her face as she poked Angel lightly in the chest before the vampire pulled her back into another kiss that was much deeper and had more feeling behind it.  When asked about it later Gwen would lie and say that if that particular kiss had lasted but longer her knees would have given way.  "That…that was…," Gwen said with a slightly overwhelmed smile on her face before she and Angel broke into a short fit of quiet laughter.

"Great…," Angel replied with a nervous smile on his face before he noticed the pout on Gwen's face.  "What's wrong…," Angel asked with a concerned frown on his face as Gwen bowed her head a bit.

"It's nothing…," Gwen started to say as Angel was able to catch a quick glimpse of a single solitary tear sliding down her cheek.  "This is great and all but…this is as far as we can go and…," Gwen sputtered out with an angry look on her face as she balled a fist up and pounded Angel lightly on the chest.

"The curse…yeah…one moment's true happiness and I lose my soul and turn back into Angelus…," Angel finished for her with a very sad frown on his face before he noticed that Gwen had started crying softly and pulled her closer.  

*                 *                       *                                 *                           *                          *

Even though they had the money to fly first class Fred had gotten everyone to agree to fly coach, thereby saving money for the hotel rooms and other expenses in New York City.  They were lucky enough to catch a flight that was booked very lightly and so there were few other passengers on board.  Gunn had been able to get them seats so that they were all together on either side of the aisle.  Connor and Cordelia sat the furthest back with a noisy and rambunctious Liam between them while Fred and Gunn sat a couple of rows ahead on the other side of the plane.  Lorne had tried his best to hide the fact that he was a demon and had taken the window seat beside Gunn and Fred.  The Angel Investigations group had been about to leave for the airport when Xander had called from Sunnydale and at the end of the conversation Fred had done a little hacking into the airports mainframe and arranged it so that Xander and Anya could sit just ahead of Cordelia and Connor with Christopher in between them.  Willow sat silently by herself just ahead of Gunn and Fred, trying her best to calm her frayed nerves.  

"I still can't believe that they've been in New York this whole time…," Fred said with a pent up look of frustration on her face as she began to nervously wring her hands. 

"I'm sure that they had their reasons Fred…," Lorne replied in his best tension alleviating tone of voice as he patted Fred lightly on the shoulder.  

"Yeah…and telling us that they were alive and doing well wasn't very high on their list…but what I don't get is that after the final battle Willow did like a hundred locater spells and not one of them worked, it was like they vanished off the face of the earth," Xander added softly as he stood beside Gunn and leaned over a bit.

"Hey cut it out Xander I tried my best…I did…I can't help it if all of those locater spells fizzled out and went poof…," Willow mumbled sadly before she became demonstrative and mimicked the act of the spells exploding in her face.

"No one's blaming you Will…," Xander said softly trying his best to calm Willow down and keep himself from blushing with embarrassment.

"Well it sure sounded like it…but now that we know that they're alive and everything what are we going to do when we see them…," Willow mumbled sadly at first before she picked her head up and looked back at Gunn and Xander with a worried look on her face.

"I don't know…probably alternate between a little terribly righteous anger about them not telling us that they were okay and the happy crying and the reminiscing…," Xander said at first with a slow shrug of his shoulders before he looked down at his shoes and started to ramble.

"Honey…you're rambling again…," Anya whispered loudly as she leaned over and poked Xander in the side.  

"Oh…uh…sorry," Xander mumbled with a nervous look on his face as he walked back over and sat down in his seat beside a smiling Christopher.  

"Well I'm going to give Wesley a piece of my mind about making us worry all this time before…," Cordelia started to say with a very serious and important frown on her face before Gunn leaned back and interrupted with a sly smile on his face. 

"Before you spend the rest of the time spoiling their daughter rotten…," Gunn said back with a happy look on his face, completely ignoring the look of death that Cordelia was giving him.  

"And no doubt trying to keep Gwen and Angel apart…," Fred mumbled softly under breath to Lorne, who only smiled politely and nodded his head in silent agreement.  

"I still don't see why we're all going…they didn't want us to know that they were okay so…," Connor started to say with a look on his face that seemed to say that he could care less about Faith and Wesley.  

"Because they're our friends Connor…that's all the reason that we need…," Willow said with a very serious and forceful look on her face as she sat up and gave Connor a slightly warning look before she turned back around and tried to get some sleep as the airplane continued its trek towards New York City.

*                    *                     *                        *                      *                     *                   *

"I don't think he was a ghost Wes…he seemed almost…familiar…like I knew him," Faith said with a slightly worried look on her face as Wesley pulled back into their driveway.  

"But how is that possible…," Wesley asked with a nervous and concerned look on his face as he brought the vehicle to a stop after backing it in towards the house.  

"How the he…heck should I know…all that mystical stuff is still your department last time I checked Wes…I'm still way to new at it to even hazard a guess other than a ghost," Faith replied with an equally nervous frown on her face as she gazed up into the sky as the sun slowly slipped beneath the tops of the row of trees that lined their property.  

"I know dear…but I'm just having a hard time figuring out why the little boy only appeared to you and not me," Wesley said with a serious scowl on his face as he opened the back door and got Hope out of her car seat.   

"Again, that's not my area…but right now getting hounded by ghosts is the last thing we need before our house becomes ground zero," Faith said with a slightly bitter and unhappy tone to her voice as she opened the back hatch and began to get the groceries out.

"No argument here…but Faith here take Hope…I'll get the groceries into the house while you can go and see how Angel and Gwen are getting along," Wesley said with a slightly watcher like tone to his voice as he took a step to stand directly in front of Faith.

"You don't have to coddle me Wes…I'm not that far along, and besides even nine months pregnant I could still dust a vamp without breaking a sweat," Faith said defiantly with a very serious scowl on her face before she took Hope from Wesley and turned on her heel and headed off towards the converted barn.

"I know…it was the only thing that kept you from tearing the house apart…," Wesley mumbled under his breath as he watched Faith walk away before returning to carrying the groceries into the house.

"Daddy's worried about mommy Hope…he thinks that I'm going to work to much and do something stupid…but I wouldn't do that would I…," Faith said softly to Hope in a joking tone of voice as the two walked towards the barn.  In reaction Hope only giggled a bit and took hold of some hair that came close enough for her to grab.  "Hey Angel…Gwen…how'd you two make…out…," Faith started to say with a slight snicker as she opened the door of the barn only to find a very startled Angel and Gwen staring back at her, tightly woven in each other's arms. 

END OF CHAPTER 13


	14. Thinking Things Through

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Hope, Liam, Christopher, and Nick.**

**CHAPTER 14-THINKING THINGS THROUGH**

"Faith…," Angel shouted in alarm with a shocked look on his face as he and Gwen shot away from each other, leaving Faith to only stare at the two with an eyebrow cocked up in confusion and a bored looking Hope in her arms.

"Okay…not exactly what I expected to find but…who am I to judge…," Faith said softly with the edges of her mouth curled up in a restrained smile.  At Faith's words Angel found himself unable to come up with an answer, but Gwen answered for the both of them, however with her usual lack of tact around new people.

"Fuck off…," Gwen mumbled angrily before she stormed past Faith and out of the barn, leaving Angel standing like a statue before he made an attempt to try to quell the tense situation.

"Gwen wait…," Angel shouted with a great amount of nervousness in his voice as he started to rush off after Gwen but halted when he got to the door and remembered that he didn't have a blanket to hide under.

"Was it something I said…," Faith asked softly with a quickly growing grin on her face as she casually walked further into the barn before setting Hope in the playpen up against the way and throwing her a teddy bear.

"Don't start Faith…," Angel tried to say with some authority in his voice, but it ended up sounding more like the two and a half century old vampire was begging.

"What…I'm not able to crack a joke when the fuc…bitch queen…," Faith started to say back with her usual could care less appearance as she sat down on a nearby bale of hay and crossed her legs.  She stopped herself abruptly when she remembered that Hope sat nearby, seemingly hanging on her every word.

"Stop it Faith…it's not what you think…," Angel said with a frustrated scowl on his face as he ran a nervous hand through his hair but didn't turn around.

"It's not what I think…hmm…you mean my little angel and I didn't walk in her and catch you and the bi…Gwen…making out…," Faith quipped with a sporting smile on her face as she leaned back up against the wall and set about cleaning some dirt out from underneath her fingernails.

"We weren't…making out Faith…we kissed…but that's all…," Angel grumbled with an angry look on his face as he finally turned around and looked over at Faith.  In the back of his mind he could hear Angelus begging to be let out and rip Faith's throat out before feasting on Hope, but Angel forced back his inner demon and stared at his shoes.  

"If you say so Angel…if you say so…," Faith said with an almost bored look on her face as she stopped cleaning the dirt out from underneath her fingernails and brushed some dirt off of her shoe.

"Was there an actual reason why you came in here Faith or…," Angel asked with an impatient shrug of his shoulders as he tried to keep his gaze locked on Hope playing happily in her playpen instead of the formerly rogue slayer.

"Well as a woman in my condition I'm supposed to be taking it easy…so we let daddy take the groceries in…didn't we Hope…," Faith started to say with an almost tired smile on her face before she finished in a voice that Angel had never heard her use outside of when she talked to Hope, or to Wesley late the earlier night when she didn't think that anyone could hear.  

"So I was right then…," Angel asked with a rather smug smirk on his face as he backed up to a chair that was set near the wall and sat down, grinning merrily at Faith.

"Yes Angel you were right…I'm pregnant…again…but…," Faith replied softly with suddenly an almost worried look on her face as she idly poked at the bale of hay that she was sitting on.  

"Wait…there's a but…," Angel asked with a quizzical look on his face as he picked his head up and looked across the barn entrance at Faith.

"Well not about the baby…the baby's fine…but when Wesley and I were getting groceries I was holding Faith and this little boy walked up and mostly just stared at me…," Faith said with an uncomfortable frown on her face as she looked over Hope and let her left hand dangle over the rim of the playpen.

"Okay Faith…that's a little weird but not…," Angel started to say with a slightly confused frown on his face before Faith interjected.

"He wasn't there Angel…only I could see him…Wesley thought that I was going crazy there for awhile…but then the kid tried to say something to me but I couldn't hear anything other than Wesley," Faith replied with a nervous and slightly scared look on her face as Hope stood up in the playpen and grabbed her fingers, using them to stay standing.

"Did you recognize the boy…," Angel asked as he leaned forward and put his hands on his knees.

"That's the part that got me all wigged out…I felt like I did…but I still can't figure out how or from where…," Faith answered with a scared look on her face before Angel walked over and sat down beside her.  As best he could he put his arm around Faith and tried to ease her anxieties.

*                        *                         *                          *                      *                           *

"Ah…New York City…the Big Apple…home of the Yankees…the Mets…and…," Xander started to state proudly as he puffed his chest out before taking in a deep breath.  Seconds later he doubled over in a fit of coughing.  "Not to…mention the rainbow of pleasant aromas and…," Xander added as he waved his hand in front of his face to try to dissipate the cloud of car exhaust that had wafted his way.

"Ooh…don't forget the alligators in the sewers and the…," Anya started to add with a more than chipper smile on her face as he held onto Christopher's hand before Gunn interrupted her.

"That's an urban legend Anya, there aren't any alligators in the sewers…," Gunn interjected with a good natured grin on his face as he looked around for their rental cars.

"You mean like that movie that we watched last night…," Anya asked with an innocent look of wonder on her face as she turned to Xander.

"Kind of…," Xander replied with a slightly unsure of what to say frown on his face before he took Christopher's other hand and helped Anya lead him across the busy street.

"So what did Buffy say when she called…," Cordelia asked softly as she turned to Willow, who smiled and shrugged her shoulders before answering.

"Just how to get to their hotel…and that she already hates being pregnant…," Willow replied with at first a calm look on her face before she finished with a slightly frumpy frown.

"That's the part that I'm having so much trouble with…," Xander said with a bored look on his face as Anya spotted their car.

"Xander you knew that Buffy…," Cordelia started to say with a frustrated scowl on her face as she pulled a tired Liam along behind her.

"I didn't mean Buffy I meant Faith…I just can't picture her pregnant…," Xander said with a confused look on his face as he let go of Christopher's hand and used the key to open the trunk of their rental car.

"Let's just hope that they took pictures…," Lorne added with a nervous frown on his face as a few passersby began to stare at him.

"If they didn't I brought forty rolls of film…we can take many…," Anya nearly shouted with delight, completely ignoring the shocked looks of everyone else.

"This is going to take forever…," Connor mumbled with an angry frown on his face as he leaned back up against a nearby van and shook his head.

*                          *                       *                                *                          *                     *

Spike had stayed longer that he had planned at Dawn's dorm room and would be bolting for the door had her two roommates not come charging back through the door, chatting loud enough to wake the dead.  From nearly the moment that the two walked in the door Spike could almost see the years of his life ticking away as he bet that the two would want to know everything about him and once Dawn got started talking it could take forever.  But remembering a promise that he had made to Buffy during a late night on the road, one in which he promised to be nice to Dawn's roommates and friends no matter what, Spike gritted his teeth and turned around, showing off his best smile and preparing for the onslaught of questions to commence.

"You don't know what you're talking about…," One of the two said with a rather defiant look on her face, almost instantly reminding Spike of Dawn.  

"Oh and you do…," The other replied with a bored and frustrated frown on her face before the two noticed Spike.

"Whoa…," Both mumbled under their breath as their eyes grew wide, causing a nervous Spike to look down and stifle a short chuckle.  Dawn remained immobile for a few seconds, taking in the whole situation with a worried look on her face, before she shook her head and rushed to Spike's side.

"Alyson…Sarah…you remember I told you about Buffy's boyfriend…," Dawn mumbled out with a nervous look on her face as she patted Spike lightly on the shoulder.  Alyson and Sarah did their very best to not act outwardly like what they were, two young women staring at one of the hottest men they'd ever seen.

"Y…yeah…," Alyson stammered out with a nervous smile on her face as Spike smiled politely and shook her hand.

"You forgot to mention that he's gorgeous," Sarah whispered to Dawn under her breath before she to shook Spike's hand.

"So you two are the Nibblet's roommates," Spike asked with a good natured smile on his face, completely ignoring the angry glare that Dawn was sending his way.

"Yeah…," Alyson said with a nervous look on her face as she kept her eyes glued to Spike.  The former vampire could see the two young women looking him over from top to bottom with more than a little amount of interest in their eyes but decided not to say anything and play it cool.

"That all you can say luv…," Spike asked with a sly grin on his face as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Y…yeah…I mean no…," Alyson stuttered softly before she clenched a fist in frustration and shook her head.

"You're British," Sarah exclaimed with almost a look of awe and wonderment on her face as she shoved her hands into her jeans pockets.  Almost instantly after finishing her statement Sarah mentally smacked herself for sounding like a child.

"Bloody right I am…but Dawn and I really should be going," Spike replied with a slightly cheesy grin on his face before he turned to Dawn, begging her with the look in his eyes to agree.

"Right…Buffy will probably get worried, c'mon Spi…William, let's go," Dawn started to say with a slightly confused look on her face before she got what Spike was trying to hint at and grabbed his arm on her way out the door.  Spike was able to get out a short wave to Alyson and Sarah before Dawn shut the door behind them.

*                   *                           *                              *                              *                         *

After the incident in the barn Gwen had stormed into the house and locked herself in the bathroom.  Wesley had watched her storm through the kitchen looking like she was trying to hold back a sea of tears as he was finishing up in putting the groceries away.  He wanted to rush right out to the barn and almost outright demand an explanation.  But after living with Faith for the past few years he'd learned better.  Checking the clock he noted that it was getting close to the time when Faith would have to leave to go do her radio show.  Just as he was about to leave the kitchen he stopped by the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of juice for Hope.

The walk to the barn was slow and peaceful, allowing him the time to watch a squabble between two squirrels.  They appeared to be fighting over an acorn.  With a light laugh Wesley shook his head and continued on his way.  He slipped into the barn and found Faith lazily leaning up against one of the walls while Angel was holding Hope on one of the bales of hay and using a teddy bear to keep her entertained.

"All I'm saying is that I'm not going to get in the middle of this Angel, if Cordelia and Gwen want to rip each other eye's out then I'm going to let them…," Faith said with a serious look on her face as she leaned up against one wall and looked over at Angel.

"Faith please…I, Wesley, can you please talk some sense into her…," Angel replied at first with a serious look on his face before he noticed Wesley walking in out of the corner of his eye.

"Sorry Angel but I know better than that," Wesley said with a slightly mischievous grin on his face as he walked over to Faith and put an arm around her shoulders.  "Besides…she never listens to me anyway," he added with a sly smirk on his face, one that got him a sharp elbow in the ribs.  With his smile growing he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Faith's lips.  Reluctantly pulling back from the kiss Faith grabbed Wesley's wrist and twisted it until she could get a good look at his watch.

"Shit…," Faith exclaimed with a look of shock and worry on her face before she broke out of Wesley's embrace and rushed out of the barn.

"What was that about," Angel asked with a slightly confused frown on his face as he looked up and over at Wesley.  

"She has to be at the radio station in an hour to do her show," Wesley replied with a soft sigh as he pushed off of the wall and walked over to Angel before sitting down beside the vampire.  As Angel nodded his head and smiled he handed Hope, who was now trying her best to reach the bottle of juice in Wesley's hand, back to her father.

"So are you ready for tomorrow…I don't think that I have to tell you that it's going to be crazy…," Angel asked with a concerned and slightly somber frown on his face as he leaned back up against the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

"Honestly…no, I doubt that Faith and I could ever truly be…ready…for tomorrow, but we've put it off long enough," Wesley trailed off with a calm and somewhat tired look on his face as he let a happy Hope have her bottle as he held her.  

"I don't know what I'm going to do with Cordelia and Gwen…," Angel asked, very nearly out of the blue, as he turned his gaze back towards the former watcher.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Gwen rushing into the house and locking herself in the bathroom by any chance would it…," Wesley asked with a grim frown on his face as he helped Hope keep the bottle at the right angle to reduce the amount of air that she took in.  Angel noticeably winced at the comment before he looked away.

"Yeah…she…Gwen and I…we kissed, right before Faith walked in and caught us…it all went to hell after that," Angel said with a worried tone to his voice as his shoulders slumped a bit.

"Are you going to talk to her sometime…because," Wesley started to ask with a concerned look on his face as he stared out through the barn's open door.

"I don't really have much of a choice do I, I have to figure out exactly where Gwen and I stand before Cordelia arrives," Angel answered with a slow and somber nod of his head as he turned back to look at Hope and Wesley.

"You'd better, because if Cordelia's still the same…," Wesley began to say with a worried frown on his face as he tilted his head slightly to one side and gave Angel a knowing look.

"Then this will all explode in my face, won't it…," Angel finished with a deadly serious look on his face before he stood up and walked to the door of the barn.

"Probably…," Wesley replied softly as he looked towards the door, but Angel had slipped out before he had a chance to reply.  "Tomorrow's going to be a big day Hope…so you need to help daddy and go to sleep on time so that mommy can get her beauty sleep," Wesley cooed softly to Hope with a cheesy smile on his face as he shifted his daughter around in his arms a bit.

"Aw…now this is a Kodak moment if I ever saw one…," An unfamiliar voice said softly from a ways away, making Wesley snap his head up and glare, eyeing a strange man that stood near the doorway.

"Who are you…what do you want…," Wesley snapped with an angry look on his face as he stood up and turned away slightly from the oddly dressed stranger, trying his best to use his body as a shield for Hope.

"Whoa…easy there…I'm not going to hurt you…or your daughter…and as for a name…just call me Whistler," Whistler replied with a shocked look on his face at first before he broke into a wide grin and leaned up against the doorway.

*                       *                     *                      *                       *                               *

Buffy had taken the time given her by Dawn taking Spike to see her dorm room to get to talk to Giles about a few things that were bothering her.  She was still having a hard time trying to work through the fact that not only had Faith been alive the past three years but that she had gotten married, had a child, a home, and a great job, all without letting any of them know.  And to have accomplished all of that in such a short time, and with Wesley, that fact was still bothering her.  She hadn't seen Wesley since he had helped her and the others stop an apocalypse three years earlier and it hadn't seemed that there was anything going on between him and Faith, but she had been wrong about her observations before.  From across the room Giles sat reading the newspaper, but kept an observant eye constantly on his slayer.

"Are you feeling okay Buffy," Giles asked with a sincere look of concern on his face as he folded the paper and laid it on his lap.  

"Physically yeah, but I guess that I'm just nervous about tomorrow," Buffy replied with a nervous and apprehensive look on her face as she leaned back up against the bed's headboard and closed her eyes.

"I'm sure Faith has changed since we last saw her, motherhood is something that changes every woman," Giles said with an optimistic smile on his face as he sat straight up in his chair and leaned forward a bit.  

"Let's hope…because I don't want to fight her anymore," Buffy replied with a tired yawn before she shook her head to try to keep herself from falling asleep.

"Well if I had to hazard a guess I think that all of the fighting between you and she is in the past," Giles said with a tired yawn of his own as he stood up and walked over near the bed, intent on staying with Buffy until Spike and Dawn got back.  Had he stayed near the window a bit longer he might have noticed the pair of reptilian eyes staring up at the window.

END OF CHAPTER 14


	15. Tea Talk And Getting Ready

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Hope, Liam, and Nick.**

**CHAPTER 15-TEA TALK AND GETTING READY**

Over the stretch of the entire time that he and Faith had lived in New York Wesley didn't think that he could remember a single Thursday that could have been considered to be a nice day.  Sure there had been good events that had happened on that day, such as Hope's first birthday party and their one year anniversary.  Both events had been two of the happiest moments in the young family's life.  Contrary to her usual abhorrence to have any pictures taken to remember a special day, other than there wedding day, Faith had nearly filled up a photo album with the photo's of those two important days.  And on this particular Thursday morning the dawn found Faith and Wesley snuggled up together on the couch, Wesley's arms wrapped protectively around her and her head resting on his chest, with a softly snoring Hope nestled comfortably in between them.  They had started showing Angel and a skittish Gwen some of their old family movies that Wesley had taken with his digital camera before everyone but Angel had fallen asleep.  The two and a half century old vampire had stayed up nearly the entire night, replaying every single second of tape, over and over again, trying to gleam every single detail that he could out of them.  He took note of how happy Faith and Wesley looked as compared to how he had remembered them first in Sunnydale and then in Los Angeles.  Through the viewing of the tapes he found himself watching not one but two people grow up.  He saw their frayed nerves and suspicious glances at the beginning; as if the two were not sure that they were doing it right.  

But as the night, and home movies, wore on Angel began to notice that those once frayed nerves were mended and even improved upon.  The suspicious glances became a thing of the past and Angel quickly found himself thinking that if he hadn't know about their past the two could easily have passed for any other normal, happy couple.  At special moments during the films Angel would lean back in his chair and glance over towards the couch.  He'd watch Faith mumbled something softly against Wesley's chest before Hope would fidget a bit and then settle down.  More than once Angel found himself wishing more than anything for the chance to live the life that Wesley and Faith were now leading.

As the first few rays of the rising sun filtered into the living room Angel stood up, popping nearly every joint in his body from inactivity, before slowly walking over to the windows and lowering the blinds.  Throughout the night Gwen had tossed and turned in her chair and during a couple of times that she seemed about ready to wake up Angel had reached over and softly began to brush the hair off of her face.  During one of those times he had fallen asleep and woken up an hour or so later when one of the tapes had run its course and the screen had gone blank, blanketing the room in a soft light.  Angel was just about to sit back down in his seat and continue going through the tapes when Gwen picked her head up and looked over at him.

"What time is it…," Gwen asked with a sleepy yawn as she tried to curl up into a tighter ball in her chair.

"Dawn…," Angel replied with a soft frown on his face as he sat back down and turned to Gwen.

"To early for me…," Gwen started to mumble back with a sleepy frown on her face as she laid her head back down.  

"You can say that…again…," Angel replied softly with a bored look on his face before he noticed that Gwen had fallen asleep again.  He was about to resume watching the old home movies when his stomach growled and it dawned on him that he hadn't consumed any blood for hours.

*                    *                      *                           *                        *                            *

Buffy awoke hours after dawn to find Spike's arms wrapped protectively around her.  She could vaguely remember when he had come back after spending most of the day with Dawn.  He had slipped into bed beside her with only a soft declaration of his love and an apology for being so late before she had fallen asleep.  Ever since she had told Spike of her pregnancy she had awoken many a day to find herself in the same position.  At first it had been a bit unnerving but after a few days she had grown to love waking up, wrapped in Spike's arms.  Even though Buffy was awake Spike was not and she took the opportunity to let her gaze slowly wash over the man that had come to mean the world to her.  Gently she freed one of her arms and hand enough so that she could trace the line of the scar about his left eye with her fingernail.  He had never really told her the where and how the scar had come about, but she got the impression that he really didn't fully remember.  

She could still remember their first day together after he had passed the demon's second slew of trials, and healed from his injuries, and become human again while retaining all of the bonuses of being a former vampire.  She had woken up that day to find herself alone in their bed and almost instantly began to panic.  She started to shout Spike's name before she rolled over and caught one of the funniest sights that she could remember.  Spike stood in front of full length mirror, naked as the day he was born, looking himself up and down.  He took great interest in his hair as he kept picking stray strands out and trying to make himself look presentable, or at least as close to presentable as he could given the circumstances.

Because he was to busy studying the few lines around his eyes Spike hadn't noticed her as she slipped out of the other side of the bed and walked around to stand beside him.  He almost jumped out of his skin when she touched his shoulder and smiled.  Together the two had continued Spike's assessment of his reflection, neither caring about their complete lack of clothing.  The two had agreed to commemorate that day every year, with a day in which they'd spend the entire day in bed together, before returning back home to face the music.

*                        *                          *                           *                     *                          *

The arrivals from Sunnydale and Los Angeles were not having such a good morning.  Willow had slept well enough and the morning found her meditating in her room while in the next room Cordelia was trying on one outfit after another, almost forcing Connor and Liam to assist her in her choice of what to wear later in the day.  Connor had to bite his nails to keep his level of frustration in check, an act which Liam seemed eager to copy.  Xander and Anya were still asleep in their room, restlessly tied up in the sheets while Christopher slumbered peacefully nearby.  Fred and Gunn were almost awake at dawn, mostly because Fred had awoken on the verge of a nervous breakdown from her excitement at finally seeing Wesley and Faith again.  Gunn ended up spending most, if not all, of the morning trying to calm her down.  By the time that lunchtime came around everyone had made their way down to the lobby of the hotel and sitting comfortably near the elevators.

"How…many hours…," Fred mumbled out softly with a nervous look on her face as she spun her watch around her wrist while trying not to look to nervous.

"About three, three and a half hours…," Gunn replied with an equally nervous look on his face as he put an arm around Fred's shoulders and drew her close.

*                        *                   *                      *                     *                               *

"Ugh Wesley, where'd you get this blood, it tastes terrible," Angel asked with a sickly look on his face as he looked up from the table.

"From the butcher that we get all of our meat from Angel, I'm sorry if the blood is a little old but you did catch me off guard earlier," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he set a couple cups of tea into the microwave and shut the door.

"Forget about…I'll just have to stomach it…," Angel said with an unhappy frown on his face as Wesley punched in a time for the tea and started the microwave. 

"I'll get you some fresher blood today when I go into town okay…," Faith interjected with a slight yawn as she walked into the kitchen, using a light blue towel to try to dry her hair after her shower.  

"Thanks…but do you have any clothes of your own Faith," Angel asked with a sly grin on his face before he forced himself to take another sip of blood.

"What do you mean…of course I…," Faith exclaimed with a slightly angry frown on her face as she looked down at her clothes.

"It's just that ever since I got here you've worn Wesley's clothes most of the time, I guess it's just odd seeing you wearing normal clothes when all that you used to wear…," Angel replied with a stifled laugh that he let out even though Faith glared back at him before Gwen interrupted.

"Made you look like one of those…," Gwen started to add with a daring grin on her face before Angel laid a restraining hand on her shoulder and cleared his throat loudly as he shook his head.

"I still have those old clothes…some anyway, but after Hope was born I just felt that I needed a change, I wasn't a carefree slayer anymore, I was a mother and wife," Faith said with still an angry glare at both Angel and Gwen as she cocked an eyebrow and looked at Wesley as she nodded her head towards the microwave.

"You were never a carefree slayer Faith," Angel mumbled softly, but just loud enough for everyone to hear as Wesley nodded his head and smiled in reply to Faith's silent question.

"So…can't I dream a bit…did you put any cinnamon in it…," Faith started to say back to Angel with a slight shrug of her shoulders before she turned her gaze back to Wesley.

"Of course dear…of course," Wesley replied softly with a tired smile on his face before he half turned and smiled down at Hope, who had crawled over from where Angel had set her down with some toys and had used the chair to stand up.  For a few moments everyone in the room remained silent and just watched as the youngest Wyndam-Pryce slowly did her best to walk from chair to chair, finally ending up beside Angel.

"Way to go Hope," Angel said with a happy smile on his face as he leaned down and picked Hope up.  Most of the time when someone would pick Hope up like Angel had she would get cranky and fuss until she was put back down where she was.  But with Angel, as with Dawn earlier Hope didn't seem to mind.  

"Yes sir…she's definitely our little daredevil, pretty soon we're going to have to baby proof the entire house, not to mention out in the barn," Wesley said with a mock frown of unhappiness on his face that Faith saw through as she lightly elbowed her husband in the ribs.

"So…have you two thought of any names for the new kid," Gwen asked a little more bluntly than she had intended as she was trying to change the subject.

"We're a long ways from picking a name…besides I'm sure the others are going to have plenty of names for me," Faith answered with a slightly overwhelmed frown on her face as the microwave's timer ran out and it started to beep.  "I'll get…," Faith started to say softly before Wesley laid a hand on her shoulder and acted first.

"No…I'll get it," Wesley said quickly with a slightly nervous look on his face as he stood up and took the two cups of steaming hot tea out of the microwave after grabbing a hot pad for himself and Faith to use.

"You don't have to baby me Wes, I can get the tea out of the microwave," Faith said with an annoyed tone to her voice as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair before Wesley set her cup of tea down in front of her on the hot pad.

"I know, but I like to do it," Wesley whispered back softly as he sat back down beside Faith and blew away some of the steam.

"Since when did you drink tea Faith," Angel asked with a slightly confused look on his face as he let Hope wrap her small fingers around his thumb.

"Since I found out that I was pregnant with Hope, Wesley had to almost force me to drink it at first, but after awhile we started experimenting with adding some cinnamon and other things like that and…," Faith replied with a slightly carefree shrug of her shoulders before she stopped to blow away some of the steam radiating up from her cup of tea.

"And now she drinks it about as often as I do…every great once in a while we'll put a little scotch in, but mostly for special occasions," Wesley added with a calm look on his face before he took a small sip of the tea.

"Your parents are very strange, you know that Hope," Angel whispered loudly to Hope, as he was trying to make a joke of it.  The looks of confusion that he received from Gwen and Faith were ones that he would remember for years while Wesley just leaned back in his chair and grinned.

*                        *                         *                           *                     *                           *

"Are you sure we're going the right way," Anya blurted out with an impatient frown on her face as she held up the map in front of her face, nearly blocking half of Xander's peripheral vision.

"I…think so, but Anya…could you fold that map back up, it's getting in my way," Xander replied with an exasperated look on his face as in the back seat Christopher let out a short giggle.

"Fine, but if we get lost, run out of gas and get eaten by trolls it'll be all your fault," Anya exclaimed with a defiant and frumpy frown on her face as she slowly folded the map back up and laid it on her lap. 

"We're not going to get lost Anya, we're following Gunn and Fred and they know where they're going, Fred had Angel on the phone for like an hour making sure that she had the address right and how to get there," Xander said with a nervous and frustrated frown on his face as he lightly tapped the brakes.

"But what if she heard him wrong…," Anya pleaded with a slightly pouting look on her face as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. 

"An…," Xander mumbled softly under his breath with a frustrated frown on his face before he turned the radio on and resumed following Gunn and Fred.

"So…should we all rush in at once or wait for them to invite us in," Willow asked with a nervous look on her face as she looked out of the window.

"I think we'd better wait outside," Fred replied with an equally nervous frown on her face as she looked back over her shoulder at Willow.

"So have you been able to get in touch with Buffy or Giles yet Willow," Gunn asked with a bored look on his face as he tried to break the tension in the car.

"N…no, no yet, I don't know why Buffy hasn't picked up yet," Willow answered with a confused and slightly worried look on her face as she took her cell phone out of her pocket and stared sadly at it.

*                        *                          *                       *                       *                           *

At that same exact moment Buffy and Spike were in the midst of getting ready to leave the hotel and travel to the meeting, but were forced to wait on Giles and Dawn. Spike, like he had boasted earlier in the day, was ready in less than half an hour.  Buffy on the other hand had, like the night the two had decided to go out on their first official date, one where there would be no patrolling or demon fighting of any kind, she had spent almost two hours trying to decide on what to wear. Dawn had finally almost been forced to hogtie her sister to get her out the door on time.  Buffy could still remember the look on Spike's face as she slowly descended the stairs.  Had he not already been dead she would have thought that all of the color would have drained from his face in awe.  Spike had tried to keep up his usual cool as ice demeanor but his lack of being able to form anything more than a single syllable coupled with the outpouring of love that she saw in his eyes gave him away.  The first line of words that he had been able to string together into a sentence had been accompanied by a quick string of small tears that he could no longer hold back.  Dawn felt as if she would explode before the two finally left.  As they pulled away in Spike DeSoto Dawn had closed the curtains and went into a fit of exuberant jubilation.

"Aren't you ready yet luv…," Spike asked softly with a hurried smile on his face as he pushed the bathroom door open and peeked inside.

"No…and it's not wise to rush a pregnant woman…," Buffy answered with a frustrated scowl on her face as she tried to get her hair to do what she wanted it to. 

"But Rupert and the Bit will be here any minute, and I…," Spike started to complain with an impatient frown on his face before he quickly jerked his head out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut.  Seconds later a curler bounced harmlessly off of the closed door.

"That bird has issues…," Spike thought with a nervous frown on his face as he shook his head on his way back to the bed.  It was nearly twenty minutes later before Buffy finally stepped out of the bathroom, looking every inch the goddess that Spike had always prophesied her to be.  Almost instantly upon seeing the look of awe on Spike's face she mistook it to mean that he didn't like how she looked she started to step back into the bathroom.

"No luv…wait, it's fine, you look fine…," Spike shouted with a frustrated tone to his voice as he leapt up off of the bed and rushed to wedge himself in between the bathroom door and Buffy.

"You sure…you don't think that I should change…maybe the skirt and the blue top…," Buffy asked with a nervous and unsure frown on her face as she looked back and forth between Spike and the bathroom door.

"You're beautiful pet…you don't need to change a thing…," Spike replied with a somewhat nervous smile on his face before someone knocked on their hotel door.

"Buffy…Spike, are you guys ready yet, if we don't leave soon we're going to be late…," Dawn's voice nearly shouted through the door as she and Giles waited impatiently outside of the room.

"Don't worry Bit…we're ready to go…," Spike shouted back in reply with a frustrated look on his face before he took Buffy by the hand and the two joined Dawn and Giles in their venture to a meeting long overdue.

END OF CHAPTER 15


	16. Pregame Warmup And Nervous Ramblings

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Hope, Liam, and Christopher.**

**Author's Note:  Reviews, as always are appreciated, and The End Is Only The Beginning now has 14 chapters.**

**CHAPTER 16-PREGAME WARMUP AND NERVOUS RAMBLINGS**

Reunions.  Faith had always hated reunions, even the few that she could remember going to with her mom.  She had even gone so far as to hate the word reunion.  Her reasoning's were that most of the time reunions didn't turn out very well and the discretions and painful events of the past were brought up and made all too new again.  And after the new live that she and Wesley had built for themselves in New York she really didn't know if she was ready for all of that.  Wesley had tried his best to calm her fears, continuously reassuring her that no matter what happened or how bad it got that he was there for her and always would be.  Letting her catch a quick nap Wesley had taken it upon himself, as well as Angel and Gwen, to set everything up in the commons area of the barn.  Angel had to move most of the weightlifting and training equipment out of the area himself as Wesley was to busy trying not to throttle Gwen for her whining.  Wesley quickly removed the weapons and locked them in the closet, thinking ahead that when and if Cordelia found out about what happened between Angel and Gwen that she'd want to do Gwen harm.  Gwen had defiantly argued that if Cordelia wanted a fight then she was more than willing to give her one, but Angel had quickly diffused the situation by surprising her with a kiss and asking her to help him with something.  That distraction gave Wesley enough time to slip out of the barn and make his way back towards the house, hoping to find Faith and Hope still napping and maybe even curl up beside them for a short nap himself.

Instead he slipped into their bedroom to find a cheery Hope sitting up on the bed giggling happily while Faith was on her hands and knees, searching under their bed, presumably for Hope's other sock.  Wesley stood motionless for a time watching Faith, who had apparently stopped dressing herself halfway through her attempt to dress Hope, as the sight of her wearing only a pair of panties forced him to almost grind his teeth to stay where he was.  He was about to take a step forward when a sinister thought came to him.  "Hey…," Wesley called out in a gruff tone of voice before he broke down into a silent chuckle.

"Huh…ow," Faith started to mumbled back in reply before her head shot up and slammed into one of the metal supports on the underside of the bed.

"Find anything," Wesley asked softly with a huge smirk on his face as he squatted down and looked under the bed.

"No…," Faith grumbled with an angry frown on her face as she crawled back out from under the bed and glared at Wesley while rubbing a spot on the top of her head.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better," Wesley asked with a joking smile on his face as he crept up next to Faith.

"Fuck you…," Faith mumbled softly back with an angry glare cast up at Wesley before he slipped an arm under her and pulled her into a long and passion filled kiss.  "Y…you sure we…," She added with an energized spark in her eye as she couldn't help but allow one of her sexiest smiles to creep upon her face.

"I wish we did…but we have to get ready…they'll all be here soon," Wesley replied with a knowing smile on his face, punctuated only by a quick kiss in between each section of his answer, one that Faith had grown to know and love to see.  If she hadn't been pregnant, trying to dress Hope, and needing to hurry to get ready for their old friends she would have thrown Wesley down onto the bed and had her way with him.

"Damn…," Faith whispered softly with a sexy pout on her face before Wesley pulled her into a hug.  They stayed clasped together for what felt like an eternity before Wesley released his grip on her as they stood up.

"I'll get Hope ready while you get some clothes on," Wesley said with a content smile on his face before Faith turned away to go look for something to wear.  She hadn't gone far when Wesley leaned forward and swatted her but hard enough to sting.

"You'll pay for that Wes…," Faith growled sexily back with one of her trademark winks before she pulled open her underwear drawer and began to try to find a bra that matched her panties.

"We'll see Faith…you say that, but so far you're just all talk," Wesley joked back with a laughing smirk on his face that almost instantly infuriated Faith.

"All talk am I…," Faith growled in fake anger before she turned around, threw Wesley down onto the bed and jumped on top of him, before pinning his arms down at his sides and straddling him.  "See Hope…daddy's been bad and mommy's going to punish him," Faith added with a killer smile as she looked over at Hope, who's only response was to sink into a fit of giggling and fall over onto her side.

"Save me Hope…before mommy…," Wesley started to shout in fake peril before Faith leaned down and began to trail kisses up his neck from his collarbone to his ear, finally ending up nibbling on his ear.

*                           *                           *                         *                          *                        *

"What's taking him so long…," Gwen growled with a frustrated scowl on her face a she glanced at her watch.

"Don't worry Gwen, it hasn't been that long," Angel said with a slightly frustrated frown on his face as he let his gaze peruse over the food and refreshments on the table.

"It's been almost two hours Angel, maybe you should go make sure everything's okay," Gwen retorted with a perturbed frown on her face as she walked over and sat down in one of the chairs nearest to the table.

"Right…but only after you promise me that you and Cordelia won't claw each other's eyes out," Angel said with a very serious frown on his face as he leaned down and rested both of his hands on the chairs armrests, forcing Gwen to look him in the eye.

"But…," Gwen mumbled back with a defeated pout on her face after seeing the serious look in Angel's eyes.

"Promise me Gwen, like I said earlier you both mean a lot to me and I don't want to have to take either one of you to the hospital anytime soon," Angel added with a continued serious frown on his face before Gwen sadly nodded her head.  "Good…now I'm going to go find our hosts," Angel added with only a slightly relieved smile on his face as he leaned down and kissed Gwen before turning and leaving the barn.  As he left the barn Angel cursed softly at his not remembering that the sun was still up.  With a slight glare skyward Angel hopped, skipped, and jumped his way in between the open patches of sunlight and shade on his way towards the house.  He was about to make his final dash through a patch of sunlight when three vehicles slowly came around the corner of the house.  He debated what his next move would be when an overly nervous Fred almost exploded out of the car.

"Angel…," Fred exclaimed, happy to see a familiar face, before she turned back and helped Willow fish some bags out of the back seat.  Gunn simply nodded his head in silence before taking a quick look around and nodding his head again, this time in approval.  Anya and Xander were next out of their car as Anya jumped out and almost instantly went over to appraise the garden while Xander pulled Christopher out with him.

"Now don't run off, I don't want to have to chase you," Xander said with a stern look on his face as he set Christopher down to shut the door.  The young Harris only grinned smugly before taking off as fast as his little chubby legs would take him in the direction of the garden, probably hoping to dive into the dirt and make a mess.  

"Oh no you don't…that outfit cost me twice as much as it should have and I'm going to get my money's worth out of it," Anya shouted with a very motherly scolding frown on her face as she caught Christopher just in time and swooped him up into her arms.  

"Angel," Cordelia shouted with a relieved sigh and shrug of her shoulders before she opened the back door and got Liam out of his car seat.  Connor on the other hand barely registered Angel's existence and looked around with an unimpressed frown on his face.

"Did you guys get here okay…," Angel managed to get out before Willow rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.  Almost instinctively Angel let his arms wrap around the witch and hug her back.

"Pretty much," Gunn declared with a carefree shrug of his shoulders as he walked up to Angel and set some of the bags down.

"Anya almost made me lose control fiddling with the map though…," Xander added with a somber frown on his face before receiving an angry glare from Anya.

"I was not fiddling…I was tracking our progress," Anya defended herself with a serious frown on her face before she handed Christopher over to Xander. 

"Whatever, you were swerving all over the place," Connor said with a monotone grumble as leaned up against the side of Gunn's rental car and held fast to Liam's hand, despite his son's earnest pleadings.

"This coming from the guy that…," Xander started to say in his defense, with an angry scowl on his face, before Willow noticed the building tension and cut in.

"So where's Wes and Faith," Willow asked with a curious look on her face as she let go of Angel and jammed her hands deep into her pockets.

"Still getting ready, I was just about to go and get them when you guys pulled up, everything's set up in the barn over there so why don't you all go and relax while I get the happy couple," Angel said with a slightly nervous look on his face as he nodded his head towards the barn, eliciting a slightly angry glare from Cordelia.

*                         *                        *                                   *                       *                        *

"Get the bloody lead out Rupert, we're going to be late," Spike growled angrily from the back seat before abruptly ceasing his complaining when Buffy cast him and angry glare.

"I will not get a speeding ticket because of your impatience Wil…Spike," Giles said with a frustrated and tired frown on his face as he lightly pushed down a little harder on the accelerator.

"Are there slowpoke tickets…," Dawn asked with an amused grin on her face as she tried to keep from looking at Giles for fear of breaking out in a fit of laughter if she did.

"I don't know Dawn, now Spike, are you sure that I look okay," Buffy said with almost a carefree tone of voice as she looked up at her younger sister before it changed to a more serious one as she turned to Spike.

"You look fine pet…relax, everything's going to be fine," Spike said with a reassuring  smile on his face as he laid a hand on Buffy's shoulder and made her look him in the eye so that she'd see that he was serious.

"He's right Buffy, besides I highly doubt that Faith will do anything to bad with Hope and Wesley around, you two will probably end up over a cup of water telling old slayer stories," Dawn added with an almost smug grin on her face as she looked over at Giles and ignored the looks that Spike and Buffy were sending her way.

"I know…everything will probably go just fine, but I just have this funny feeling that something big…and bad, is coming," Buffy said with a slow nod of her head and a sad frown on her face before Spike leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"A new big bad's coming…well then let it come, we'll be more than ready, except if the whelp gets in the way," Spike started to say with a very confident look on his face before his expression changed to a more mocking smile.

"Spike…I thought I asked you to stop calling Xander that," Buffy chided Spike with a scolding frown on her face as she leaned back and crossed her arms.

"Sorry luv, I couldn't resist," Spike said with a slightly defeated frown on his face before he turned and looked out the window as Giles drove the car out of the city and into the country.

"Well it won't be much longer before we're there so do I have to ask you all to behave," Giles exclaimed with a nervous and almost fatherly look on his face as he looked first over at an overly grinning Dawn before spying Spike and Buffy in the rearview mirror.

"Giles…," Both Dawn and Buffy exclaimed with slightly annoyed frowns on their faces as Spike held in a good natured snicker as best he could.

*                              *                           *                        *                         *                   *

After being surprised halfway to the house Angel had managed to corral everyone into the barn without having too many problems.  Anya had wanted to go on her own unguided tour through the house but Xander had been able to distract her with questions about her past as a vengeance demon.  Connor had acted indifferent, as usual, and Cordelia cast the house a somewhat worried frown before carrying Liam out to the barn.  For her part Willow seemed to genuinely love to be out in the country, she had excused herself and taken a short walk around the ground, promising to be in the barn if and when Wesley and Faith showed themselves.  Gunn had edged an overly eager Fred towards the barn as he struggled to carry all of the bags that Fred and Willow had brought with them.  

After a final look himself towards the house, and a few overheard shouts coming from the barn, Angel turned on his heel and did his hop, skip, and a jump dance all the way back to the barn before sliding through the open door and immediately being pelted by a plastic cup thrown by an angry Liam.  

"So what's taking them so long," Gwen asked with an angry and nervous frown on her face as she deftly weaved her way through the small crowd to stand beside Angel.

"They'll be here in a minute, they're waiting for everyone to get here so that they don't have to do or say anything twice," Angel replied, trying his best to make his answer sound truthful even against the fact that he hadn't asked Wesley or Faith at all.

"Whatever…just don't get mad at me when this all goes to hell," Gwen said with a frustrated and somewhat worried frown on her face before she sent a light jolt of electricity into Angel's shoulder.

Willow had spent her walk well, feeling closer to the earth here in Wesley and Faith's back yard than she had in most of Sunnydale.  She had knelt down near to the ground and helped a struggling dandelion to bloom. In fact she had become so entrenched with what she was doing that she failed to notice when a nervous and slightly confused Faith walked up behind her with a calm Hope in her arms.  "Hey Will…," Faith said with a nervous hinge in her voice as she edged closer to Willow and shifter Hope from one arm to another.  Willow was caught so much off guard that she nearly screamed as she spun around before coming eye to eye with Faith.

"F…Faith…uh, hi…," Willow stuttered out with a shocked and embarrassed smile on her face before she regained her bearings and gave Faith and Hope a quick once over.  After much deliberating, and more than one change of clothes, Faith had finally decided on an outfit that best suited her new state of being when compared to her old way of life.  Never one to wear frilly dresses she had settled on a slightly faded old pair of blue jeans that were very comfortable but still looked good enough accompanied by a black belt with a gold buckle that Wesley had gotten her on a whim.  Her ensemble was topped off by a denim shirt that she had unbuttoned about halfway with a creamy colored short sleeved shirt underneath.  Her sleeves were rolled up, a beautiful golden cross hanging from a gold and silver chain adorned her neck, and she had pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, mostly in the end to keep it away from Hope's prying fingers.  After much discussion Wesley had finally decided on one of Hope's Sunday dresses and so now mother and daughter looked far better than Willow had expected.

"Hi yourself…so uh you good," Faith asked with a nervous smile at first before her mind went blank as to exactly what to say in this situation.

"Y…yeah, I'm good…this must be Hope…she's so beautiful…can I," Willow stammered out with an exuberant and nervous smile on her face as her whole face brightened up before she motioned that she wanted to hold Hope.

"Thanks…sure you can," Faith answered with a noticeable sigh of relief through her smile as she handed Hope over to Willow.  Willow stayed silent for several moments, mostly taking the time to get a good look at Hope and vice versa, before she turned back to Faith.

"She looks just like you…," Willow mumbled softly with a happy smile on her face as Hope started to fuss a bit but then calmed down when Willow tickled the bottom of her foot.

"Yeah…we kinda lucked out there…," Faith joked with still a nervous smile on her face as she was quickly running out of things to say.

"Where's Wesley…," Willow asked with a slightly concerned frown on her face as she looked all around but didn't see the former watcher.

"Oh he's changing his shirt, he was all ready but then Hope spit up on his shoulder," Faith answered with a laughing smirk on her face before she and Willow shared a nervous laugh.

"Uh…sorry if this is a little too personal but…how'd you and Wes…you know…," Willow sputtered out with an embarrassed and nervous smile on her face as she looked back and forth between Faith and Hope.

"Don't worry about it Will…I have a funny feeling that everyone's going to ask us that question…as for an answer…we just spent so much time together and opened up…I mean really opened up to each other that after awhile we realized that…," Faith said with an unsure look on her face as she slipped her hands into her pockets but left her thumbs out.

"That you were in love…kinda sounds like a fairy tale…," Willow said softly as she finished Faith's answer before a short bit of awkward silence fell upon the trio.

"Yeah…it was kind of a little to good, for a while I kept expecting something…everything…bad to happen, and then I found out that I was pregnant with Hope and all of my fears and hang-ups went into overdrive…I so totally wigged out," Faith said with a sheepish smile on her face before she used her heel to smash a cricket.

"Oh I almost forgot…congratulations on the good news…," Willow added with an almost mad at herself frown on her face before she cheered up and beamed a happy smile towards Faith.

"Thanks…Angel heard the heartbeat and…shouldn't we go see the others…," Faith started to say with a calm smile on her face before her nerves gained hold and she took Hope back from Willow.

"Yeah…we should probably do that," Willow agreed with a quick and nervous nod of her head as she shrugged her shoulders and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress.

"Not without me I hope," Wesley said with a cheerful smile on his face as he walked up to the trio.  He was dressed similarly to Faith but whereas she had buttoned up half of the buttons on her denim long sleeved shirt Wesley had left the shirt out and unbuttoned.  A few small red marks on his jaw line gave away the fact that he had hurriedly shaved and gotten a bit careless.  

"Perish the thought," Faith said with a relieved smile on her face as it seemed to Willow that some of Faith's nerves subsided and her confidence grew with Wesley at her side.

"Of course…Willow…it's good to see you," Wesley added with a happy grin and small laugh as he took a step forward and hugged Willow.

"Yeah…you to," Willow replied with a happy smile on her face as she fought back a few surprising tears.

"You look good," Wesley said softly with that same happy grin on his face after he quickly gave Willow the once over.

"Yeah, you to…," Willow returned with a nervous smile on her face while Wesley leaned down and first kissed Hope softly on the top of her head before leaning in closer and kissed Faith.

"Thank you…maybe later after everything calms down…," Wesley started to reply with the first few signs of his slightly frayed nerves before his attention was drawn away by the car that pulled into the driveway and pulled to a stop beside Gunn's rental car.  Seconds later Buffy nervously got out and almost instantly her gaze locked with Faith's.

END OF CHAPTER 16


	17. Presents, And Not Him Again

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Hope, Nicholas, and Callie.**

**CHAPTER 17-PRESENTS, AND NOT HIM AGAIN**

Shit, meet fan.  That lone solitary thought kept railroading itself through Wesley's head as his gaze flickered back and forth between the two slayers as a nervous Buffy slowly walked towards them.  For her part Faith remained motionless but from the frayed look in her eyes Wesley half expected her to hand Hope off to him before taking off as fast as her legs would carry her.  But just as the two slayers neared each other, standing only a foot or so apart, Wesley's attention was pulled away elsewhere as an impatient Dawn pushed Spike away from the car and towards Buffy.

"B…," Faith said with a well hidden voice that was full of worry and fear as she tried her best to smile as Wesley took a step closer to her.

"Faith…," Buffy replied with an equally nervous and anxious look on her face before Wesley and Spike gave each other the once over with their eyes before the two shared a common look.  Both tensed up to be ready in case anything happened between Faith and Buffy.

"Here Wes take Hope…," Faith said abruptly with a tired smile on her face as she handed Hope to Wesley before turning back to Buffy.  The two slayers stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity while Giles tried his best to get around the front of the car so as to help pull the two slayers apart if it came to that.  Before anyone, even Buffy or Spike, could react Faith stepped forward.  But instead of aiming a fist at Buffy's jaw or a well placed kick to her stomach Faith wrapped her arms around the blonde slayer in a tight hug.  Despite the looks of shock from everyone involved Buffy nervously returned the hug.

"See…I told you that she'd changed…and you guys were worried that they'd fight…," A frustrated and impatient Dawn exclaimed with a triumphant smile on her face as she elbowed Spike hard in the ribs.

"That went better than expected…," Wesley thought with a concerned frown on his face before Hope began to fuss up a storm, causing Faith to pull away from Buffy and turn her gaze back towards her daughter.  "I think she wants her mommy to hold her," Wesley said with a nervous smile on his face before he handed Hope back to Faith.

"Of course she does…daddy carries you around like a sack of flour…doesn't he," Faith whispered softly with a sneaky smile on her face as she shifted Hope to her left arm and picked a small leaf out of Hope's hair.  While that act was going on an overly nervous Buffy turned her head to look over at Giles, who responded with an optimistic but yet nervous smile.

"See luv…," Spike started to say with a relieved smile on his face before he ran out of things to say and finally ended up just continuing his smile and laying his hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"I think that perhaps it would be best if we all moved to the barn before everyone comes out wondering where we are…," Wesley interjected with still a nervous smile on his face as he copied Spike's move and laid a hand on Faith's shoulder. It was an act that really seemed to help Faith to calm down as she leaned back against Wesley's chest slightly before she nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah…," Buffy added with a nervous shrug of her shoulders before wincing slightly with a queasy frown on her face.  Without another word from anyone they all headed towards the barn and slipped through the crack in the doorway.

*                      *                            *                              *                         *                          *

Faith and Wesley let Giles and Willow go in first with Buffy, Spike, and Dawn behind them.  When if finally came time to face the music that they had been dreading for the past three years Faith looked up to Wesley with a rare terrified look in her eyes and a slight quiver of her bottom lip.  The look on her face was one that seemed to say that she wanted to go run back into the house and crawl back under the covers with Wesley and Hope and never come out.  Wesley replied at first with a kind and loving smile before he leaned down and captured her lips with his in a kiss that he had initially intended to be short and sweet but snowballed into a long and passionate one, with their tongues battling for dominance.  As the kiss wore on Hope almost seemed to understand what was going on and momentarily looked away and sighed before turning back and slapping Faith's cheek with all of her power.

"Looks like someone has a problem with her mommy and daddy kissing…," Faith mumbled softly with a confidant smile on her face before she gave Hope a mock dirty look.

"Just wait till she's seventeen and catches us…," Wesley started to say with a sexy smirk on his face before Faith rolled her eyes and shook her head.  Before Wesley could respond Faith walked into the barn and left Wesley standing outside.  With a nervous laugh Wesley followed his wife into the barn and closed the door behind him.  He had barely taken a step inside of the barn before the maelstrom struck.

"Wesley," Fred nearly screamed out with delight before she rushed forward and gripped him in the tightest bear hug that she could must.  Over her shoulder Wesley was able to catch Gunn smile slightly and nod his head before shrugging his shoulders and mouthing the words, "Sorry English…but you're on your own."

"Hello Fred…," Wesley said with a surprised smile on his face before the Texan finally released her death grip and wiped away a tear.

"Fred…nice to see you again," Faith stumbled through with a nervous smile on her face before Fred started to make baby noises to Hope, who seemed to like the attention.

"Looking good watcher man," Xander shouted with a joking smile on his face before he knelt down quickly to keep the food on Christopher's plate from falling to the floor.

"Thank you Xander…you to…and Anya," Wesley replied with a nervous smile on his face before Anya frowned impatiently at Xander and then walked up to him.

"You don't look weak and nosy…," Anya declared with her usual total lack of tact smile on her face before everyone yelled her name collectively as Xander blushed a deep crimson and shook his head.  "What…," Anya asked with a confused and slightly hurt frown on her face as she shrugged her shoulders and looked around.  Wesley tried to think of something to say to calm the former vengeance demon down but his thoughts were interrupted by Cordelia stomping up to him.

"You've got a lot of nerve pal…skipping town like that and only leaving a note…never telling us where you were or if you were okay…," Cordelia said with a very angry scowl on her face as she poked Wesley in the chest with her finger and glared at him.  Out of the corner of his eye Wesley could see Faith looking around for a place to sit Hope down before laying the smackdown on the former cheerleader.  But before Faith could hand Hope off to a startled and obviously nervous Willow Cordelia's angry visage shattered and a tear strolled down her cheek.  "Don't ever do that again or I'll…," Cordelia started to add with a stern frown on her face before her look changed to an excited smile and she wrapped her arms around Wesley's neck and kissed his cheek.  Barely audible was Faith's relieved sigh at not having to snap Cordelia's neck.  Sullen in the back Connor barely looked at either Faith or Wesley, occupying himself with splitting a piece of hay lengthwise.

"Can I…," Fred asked with a slightly overwhelmed smile on her face as she was almost begging to hold Hope.  For a moment Faith hesitated but then relented and let Fred take Hope, lest she hurt the Texan's feelings.

"Liam's gotten big," Wesley said with a slightly startled look on his face as Liam came running up with a full glass of water in his hands, spilling it everywhere.

"Yeah…Liam," Cordelia said softly as she started to agree before her son dumped what was left of his glass of water out onto her shoes.  Unable to hold in a laugh Wesley pressed further on into the barn and away from Cordelia, finally finding a seat beside a bored looking Angel on a bale of hay.  

"Nice party…," Angel mumbled with a nervous smile on his face as he tried to keep his eyes off of Buffy, who at that moment was standing on the opposite side of the barn perusing the beverage table with Spike at her side.  The former vampire had an arm around Buffy's waist and held her close.

"Thanks…she's happy Angel…I know that it's killing you to see them together but it's happened, somewhere along the way you lost her, and now if you're not careful you might do even worse," Wesley said at first with an overly happy smile on his face as he leaned back up against the wall before he turned his head towards Angel and followed the vampires' gaze.

"I know…it's just that…but Spike…," Angel mumbled out with a look of total disbelief and confusion before he ran his hands through his hair.

"Would you rather have had her wind up with that bloody wanker Riley…or God forbid that ponce Parker," Wesley interjected with a sincere look of concern on his face as he clasped his hands together on his lap and smiled as Gunn sat down next to him.  

"Don't have to worry about him…slime demon got him a few weeks ago…I even took pictures," Angel replied with a restrained look of glee on his face before he and Wesley shared a laugh.

"What's so funny, Cordelia switch Angel's O-positive with fruit punch again," Gunn asked with a good natured chuckle as he leaned his shoulder into Wesley's.

"No…Angel's just catching up on some of the brooding that he missed," Wesley answered with a joking smirk on his face before Angel turned his head and glared at the former watcher.

"We should open the presents now," A very chipper Anya declared with a huge grin on her face as she picked up one of the presents that she had brought for Hope and turned to Faith.

"Ah crap…," Faith muttered under her breath with an angry scowl on her face as she rolled her eyes and jammed her hands into her pockets.

"Yeah…presents," Dawn cheered with a broad smile on her face through a mouthful of cake as she looked up from her seat near where Xander was trying to keep a rambunctious Christopher under control.  

"Dawn…," Buffy said with a motherly scolding tone to her voice as she glared down at Dawn while Spike filled her glass with punch.

"What…," Dawn mumbled back, her mouth still full of cake, and a slightly hurt frown on her face.

"Anya…you really didn't have to get us anything, we're fine…seriously," Wesley interjected with a nervous smile on his face as he ran a hand through his hair and tried to keep from blushing.

"You sure…because I read that in mass gatherings of this kind consumer goods are exchanged as gifts…," Anya asked with a nervous and sad pout on her face as she turned to look at Xander, as if asking for help.

"Why don't we just let Wesley and Faith open the presents and we'll worry about consumer goods later okay," Willow exclaimed with a very nervous smile of hope on her face, one that she kept until her cheeks began to hurt.

"Fine…let's just get this over with," Faith mumbled with a bored frown on her face before she walked over and squeezed down in between Gunn and Wesley, leaning her head on Wesley's shoulder and laying her hand on his hip.

"Goodie," Anya squealed with delight as she picked up a couple more bags and rushed over to set them down in front of Wesley and Faith.  At Wesley's side Angel looked about ready to bolt for the exit but since every eye in the barn was pretty much on him he couldn't go anywhere.  He got a bit of relief when a nervous and bored looking Gwen squeezed in to his left, draping her legs lazily over his lap.  That action brought a raised eyebrow of concern from Buffy and a thinly veiled glare from Cordelia. But other than that most of those in the barn barely paid the act any heed.

"Here…open this one first…," Fred said with a look of extreme excitement on her face as she shifted Hope from one arm to another before carrying a blue box with a nice pretty pink bow on it over to Faith.

"Here dear…you open it," Faith said with a fake smile plastered across her face as she handed the package to Wesley.

"Thank you honey," Wesley said back with an equally fake smile plastered across his face before he took a quick look over at Hope and then ripped through the wrapping paper.

"It's a sweater…," Anya exclaimed with an overjoyed smile on her face as she jumped to her feet and looked around the room.

"Uh An…you're supposed to let them open the present first and see for themselves…hence the whole…surprise aspect…," Xander said with a totally embarrassed frown on his face as he pulled Anya down beside him.

"Thank you…Anya…really," Wesley said with a frustrated and overwhelmed smile on his face as he opened the box and pulled the dark blue sweater out.

"Yeah…thanks," Faith added with a forced chipper smile on her face as she took the sweater from Wesley and looked it over, a part of her mind already thinking on what to buy with the money that she'd get after returning it.  The next hour was spent with an overly anxious Anya handing one gift after another to Faith and Wesley and almost having to be knocked unconscious to keep from telling what was inside.  A few of the presents were clothes for Wesley and Faith, with Angel's gift being a new set of mystical monogrammed daggers and an amulet of protection for Hope.  Hope's pile of toys had started to reach an astronomical height before Wesley and Faith looked at each other with concerned looks on their faces.  The unspoken question between them was where they supposed to put all of the toys.  By the time that all of the presents were done being presented Wesley breathed a sigh of relief and thanked his lucky stars that Anya hadn't gotten Hope something like a pony.

"That's the last one right…," Wesley asked with a hopeful but tired smile on his face as Faith sat back down beside him, after getting something to drink for herself, and passed him his glass of lemonade.

"Almost…there's one more," Giles said with a sleepy smile on his face as he walked towards Wesley and Faith with a large box in his hands that had what looked like breathing holes cut into it.  

"What's wrong with the box G…it's got like a million holes…," Faith asked with a confused and somewhat worried laugh as she looked up at Giles.  

"You'll see…I had this specially delivered…," Giles replied with a kind and excited smile on his face as he set the large package down on Wesley's lap.

"Watch out…it might be a poisonous snake," Anya exclaimed with a hesitant look on her face before Xander shook his head and dropped his head into his hands.

"It's not a poisonous snake Anya…or else there wouldn't be holes," Buffy said with a slightly annoyed look on her face before Spike butted in.

"Besides…you'd better stop now, before the Whelp has a heart attack," Spike added with a daring smirk on his face that quickly became an almost cocky grin.

"Hey," Xander shouted with an angry scowl on his face as Spike tried his best to keep from laughing before Buffy loudly cleared her throat and glared at Spike.

"That's enough you two," Giles exclaimed with a frustrated and tired look on his face as both Wesley and Faith were eyeing the package on Wesley's lap with confused looks and Fred had brought Hope a little closer and sat down beside Gunn.

"Guess something things never change…," Faith muttered softly under her breath to Wesley with a cheesy smile on her face as she kept an eye on the package.

"So open it already," Gunn said with an excited smile on his face as he leaned back up against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Okay…Faith could you get the other…side, and…," Wesley said softly with an uncertain look on his face as he and Faith slowly pulled the lid off of the box.

*                    *                            *                             *                     *                        *

"Please tell me that you haven't been here all day," Callie asked with a nervous and almost pitying smile on her face as she leaned up against the doorway and aimed her gaze directly at Nick.  

"Uh…not exactly…," Nick replied with a meager smile on his face before he became aware of the five empty Styrofoam cups of coffee sitting haphazardly around him.

"Nicholas…," Callie moaned with a short laugh as she walked into the room and wrapped an arm around her boyfriend.

"Okay…I've been here all day, but you know how I told you that I've been having a hard time deciphering this appendix to the Dringogen texts that Ms. Summers has," Nick said with an embarrassed sigh before he took a sip of cold coffee.

"Yeah…so what, she has the texts and Ale…Wesley can decipher anything that she need deciphered…so how about this…you put down that stuffy old book and come with me," Called asked with a bored frown on her face before she wrapped her arms loosely around Nick's neck and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"And do what, I have a lot of work to do and…," Nick started to say with a nervous smile on his face as he turned another page in the appendix.

"And I'm not wearing any underwear…," Callie whispered with a seductive tone to her voice as Nick's eyes grew wide.  

"Well…I think this appendix can stay un-deciphered a bit longer without hurting anyone," Nick said with an overexcited smile on his face before he closed the appendix with authority and stood up before turning around to take Callie in his arms.

"Thought you'd see it my way," Callie said with a sexy grin before she pulled Nick down into a steamy kiss.  Before long the ancient librarian loudly cleared her throat and glared at the couple.

"Sorry Ms. Greenwalt," Nick said with a very embarrassed smile on his face before he quickly picked up his coffee cups and ushered Callie out of the corner of the library, never seeing the nondescript man watching them from across the room.  The man waited until he saw the couple outside before he rose out of his seat and crossed the library, finally stopping at the table that Nick had been working at.  After looking around to make sure that no one was watching him he started to flip through the book before slamming it shut angrily.

"This is Finn…I've got a situation here, I'm going to need the whole team…maybe more," The man said with a very frustrated scowl on his face after taking a cell phone out of his pocket and dialing a number.

END OF CHAPTER 17


	18. Into The Maelstrom

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 18-A LULL IN THE MAELSTROM**

A muffled snort and whimper were heard from the box as Wesley and Faith finished pulling off the lid.  Hope was first to react with at first an odd and confused look on her face before one of the presents tried its best to scramble out of the box.  This action brought an elated giggle from Hope, but a shocked and Faith was taken aback as she spun her head to the side to question Wesley with her gaze.

"Dogs…Giles, you bought us dogs…," Faith asked with an unsure frown on her face as she cocked an eyebrow and stared up at Giles.  The old watcher shifted uncomfortably in his place for a few seconds and looked around the room briefly before responding.

"Dogs…yes I bought you dogs, two purebred Great Danes actually," Giles answered with an overly optimistic smile on his face as even he knew that he was reaching.

"May I ask why," Faith asked with now an even more confused look on her face as her attention was quickly averted back to the box and keeping an overly eager Hope from grabbing one of the puppies' ears.

"Every family should have a puppy," Xander chimed in softly with his possible answer as he sat up in his seat and grinned a look around the room.

"I never had a puppy," Buffy mumbled sadly with a somber pout on her face as she began to idly twirl a lock of hair around her finger.

"I'll get you one if you want pet, any kind, I know some people, demons really…," Spike started to softly say back with a reassuring smile on his face before Angel loudly cleared his throat and added his two cents into the pot.

"I think Giles gave you the puppies to keep you busy," Angel said with a nervous look on his face, realizing how stupid what he said had sounded as soon as the words left his mouth.  Blushing as well as a two and a half century old vampire could Angel hung his head and looked away.

"Trust me Angel, I don't think that was the reason, Hope and work keep us busy enough," Wesley slowly said with an equally nervous look on his face as he aided Faith in trying to keep the two puppies in the box while trying to keep Hope away from them. 

"Well you haven't been very busy these last couple of days…," Gwen started to say with a carefree and bored look on her face as she laid her head on Angel's shoulder and received a death glare from Cordelia, an act that only made the former thief lean closer to Angel.

"In truth I'm really not sure why I bought them, all that I can say is that as I was helping an old friend with a problem that I won't go into here I came across these two puppies, and for some reason I thought of the two…three of you," Giles interjected with a nervous and slightly embarrassed smile on his face before he removed his glasses and began to vigorously clean them with a white handkerchief that he produced from his pocket.

"Wesley, what are we going to do, we don't have room for…," Faith started to whisper softly under her breath to Wesley as she leaned against his shoulder.

"We'll find room Faith, we've talked about fencing in the yard…and there's some room over in the corner that we couldn't figure out what to turn it into," Wesley whispered back with a thoughtful look on his face before he noticed that Giles was waiting for a response.

"Thank you Giles…," Faith added with an overly chipper smile on her face as she rose to her feet and walked up to the old watcher before placing an appreciative kiss on his cheek.

"You're welcome…," Giles stuttered out quickly with a shocked and overwhelmed look on his face before Wesley let out a shout as the two Great Danes suddenly jumped in unison and knocked the box out of Wesley's hands.  The two puppies were already out of the box before it hit the ground, aiming for Christopher and Liam, both of whom were now both holding small paper plates with big slices of cake on them as they stood together apart from their parents.

"Liam," Cordelia shrieked with a panicked look on her face as she rushed forward and picked her son up as fast as she could.  His piece of cake plummeted to the ground before the first puppy began to hungrily devour it.

"Cool…," Anya started to say before the second puppy reared back and pounced on Christopher, knocking the child down and sending the piece of cake soaring up into the air.  Almost working in automatic Xander hurried forward and pulled his son out from under the overeager puppy before Anya snapped out of her stupor of momentary enjoyment to look to Wesley and Faith for an explanation.

"Cordelia…Anya I'm so sorry I…," Wesley exclaimed loudly as he pushed the box aside and tried his best to corral the puppies.  "Faith…a little help…here…," Wesley sputtered out with an embarrassed look on his face as he caught one puppy but the other ran into the back of his legs and knocked him off of his feet.

"Oh no honey…you're doing just fine by yourself…I wouldn't want to," Faith started to shout with an amused smile on her face before Wesley interrupted.

"Faith," Wesley shouted with an angry tone to his voice as he did his best to glare up at his wife while trying to keep the two puppies near him.  

"Coming….here," Faith shouted back with a nervous laugh before she handed a giggling Hope to Buffy and went to help Wesley.

*                         *                        *                              *                     *                         *

The heat vision goggles attached to the front of his mask kept him abreast of the status of all of those that traveled across his section of the campus.  He had been ordered to follow one Nicholas Burton and Callie Freeman wherever they traveled after leaving the library.  He had followed them across town and back to Callie's dorm room where soon the bright oranges that made up the two young people in love turned to a dark red.  At that point he had turned off the heat vision goggles and radioed headquarters, requesting further orders.  He had been told to remain at his position and keep watch over the couple, but not to interfere in any way except if an attempt was made on their lives or they tried to meet any of a list of known demons, vampires, or related persons.  Chief on that list were two names, Buffy Summers and Spike.  Wesley and Faith had, as of yet, avoided being included on the list as possible threats only because his superiors in the Initiative hadn't put a very high risk on them because of their daughter.  

"This is agent Jackson…all clear here," Jackson said with a frustrated sigh as he activated his com link to headquarters and leaned back against the trunk of the tree that he was hiding in.

"Good…the last thing that we need is for the slayer or the vampire to interrupt our progress," A scratchy voice answered from the other end of the com link as Jackson scratched his temple.

"Well I don't see them anywhere, all I see is our two subjects having a whole hell of a lot more fun than I am," Jackson said with a tired yawn and sarcastic tone to his voice before a glimmer of light from a ways away caught his attention.  "What the hell…," He started to say with a confused look on his face before the light flashed again and he and the tree were almost instantly engulfed in a massive fireball.

*                           *                         *                            *                   *                              *

He crawled into bed and lay down next to her, staring lovingly at the sight of her bare back.  Many a night since Hope's birth he had lain awake almost all night just staring at her soft skin illuminated by the soft light of the crescent moon, fighting off the urge to stretch out his calloused hand and reassure himself that this all wasn't some elaborate fantasy but in fact was real.  With soft fingers that he guessed were icy cold from helping Angel and Xander to fix up a temporary pen for their two new dogs Wesley softly walked his fingers down Faith's spine, eliciting a body wide shiver before his slayer unconsciously pulled the covers up tighter around her.  With an amused smirk on his face he lay back onto his back and slipped his shirt of, throwing it across the room.  Without a second thought he reached under the covers and slid out of his jeans, dropping them down right beside the bed.  When they had initially left Sunnydale neither Wesley nor Faith slept in the nude, mostly because they were still trying to sort out exactly what was happening between them and they often had to room together.  But once they had settle here in their house more often than not the two slept sans clothing, craving the feel of skin against skin.  Through a deep yawn he rolled over and slipped his left arm around Faith's waist, drawing her close.  Her only reaction was to shiver a bit at the temperature of his hand.  Over the course of the rest of the night Wesley managed to slip his right arm underneath Faith's shoulders, turning her so that when morning broke it found a small amount of drooling slipping from Faith's mouth straight onto Wesley's chest.

She awoke from one of the best dreams that she had ever had.  During her earlier days she had experienced many slayer dreams, dreams that usually foretold doom and destruction.  But ever since Hope's birth many of those slayer dreams had instead seemingly been transformed, showing her glimpses of not only the possible dark futures but the possibly very bright futures as well.  Her eyes opened slowly and she took a few moments to focus her gaze on something other than the sun that was hitting her squarely in the face.  Quickly wiping up her small line of drool she tried to slip out of Wesley's grasp and get out of bed.  That was the plan however when she tried to move her body refused to act, relishing the warmth of the bed and of her husband too much to want to leave.  Making up her mind Faith awkwardly and carefully undid herself from Wesley's grasp and slip out of the bed, shivering from head to toe as the cold air hit her warm skin.  She had made it almost out of their bedroom before she had remembered that she hadn't a stitch of clothing on.  Silently cursing her mistake she slipped back into the bedroom and pulled on her bathrobe, yawning deeply as she did so.  When she walked into the kitchen she was met by a serious looking Angel drinking a cup of steaming hot coffee, spiked with blood no doubt, and pouring over the morning paper.

"Did you see this…," Angel asked with a very serious frown on his face as he lifted up a section of the newspaper and slightly tilted it towards Angel.

"Kinda hard to see anything right now Angel…you're gonna have to wait until after I get some coffee in me and give Hope her breakfast," Faith replied with a deep and stretched out yawn as she brushed some hair back behind her left ear and stumbled towards a cupboard.

"There was a murder last night," Angel chided with an unhappy frown on his face as Faith did her best to hide the beginnings of a smile as she played with Angel.  

"Ya don't say…this is New York Angel, there's something wrong if there's not a murder every night," Faith joked softly with a gentle laugh before she pulled her and Wesley's cup out of the cupboard as because of her slayer hearing she heard Hope start to fuss.

"You know what I meant Faith, this was no ordinary death, an entire one hundred year old tree went up in seconds like a roman candle, complete with a dead body in it," Angel reiterated his earlier statement with a serious frown on his face as he half turned in his chair to see a sleepy eyed Wesley slowly saunter into the kitchen with an unhappy Hope in his arms.

"Sure I do…now come to momma," Faith smile back at Angel for a moment before she traded Wesley the two coffee cups for their daughter. Almost instantly upon being passed from one parent to the other Hope began to calm down.

"She always does that…she's always better for you," Wesley exclaimed softly with an amazed and slightly hurt look on his face before Faith lightly shrugged her shoulders and wrapped her arms more tightly around Hope.

"She just loves me better," Faith intoned with a playful smile on her face before Angel couldn't take anymore and spoke up. 

"We should look into this, I have a bad feeling that this was no accident, something killed that man," Angel said with a very serious and slightly angry look on his face as he folded the paper up just right so that the article on the death was front and center.

"Angel, are you sure that you're not just reading to much into this…seeing something where there is nothing," Wesley asked with a soft frown on his face as he slowly began to sort through the different kinds of tea on the tea rack while Faith searched for a bottle for Hope in the fridge.  

"Not when the victim was wearing some pretty high tech surveillance gear including heat vision goggles and an automatic weapon that's illegal in the United States," Angel countered with a frustrated look on his face as he shoved the newspaper at Wesley.

"Spontaneous human combustion or murder on campus…good lord that's a horrible article title, the author should be ashamed of him…herself," Wesley exclaimed with an editorial frown on his face as he closely studied the headline and the story underneath it while Faith placed Hope's bottle into the microwave.

"Angel we can't do anything about this death until tonight at the earliest, Wesley and I have a class today and then we have to check up on something with Nick and Callie," Faith said with a bored look on her face as she kept her gaze locked onto the bottle in the microwave. 

"This is a serious matter Faith, call it a hunch but I think that this tree and this man are only the beginning…," Angel replied with a nervous frown on his face before he stood up from the table and walked into the living room, being careful to avoid the few stray rays of sunlight that streamed in through the open window.

"Well…what crawled up his ass…," Faith grumbled with an annoyed scowl on her face before recognition flashed across her face and she added with a sheepish and embarrassed look on her face, "Sorry."

"You're forgiven, but I do wonder why this case in particular has vexed him so," Wesley wondered aloud with a nervous look on his face before he found the two packets of honey that he was looking for and took the two coffee cups over to the sink and filled them.

"Ooh…bringing out the big words are we now, be still my beating heart," Faith said with a good natured smile on her face, one that made her eyes glitter, as she pulled out Hope's hi-chair and set her in it.

"That's not that big of a word Faith, but we need to get in early today because the Dean will probably want to talk to us and try to explain why the classes are behind and not ready for the chapter test," Wesley said with a slightly worried look on his face as Wesley took the bottle out of the microwave and replaced them with the two coffee mugs.  

"Well to bad, they should have used this extra time to study instead of going out and partying all night like they all probably did…wait a minute, did I actually just say that," Faith started to say with an almost scolding and disapproving frown on her face before she tested the temperature of the bottle and looked shocked as she noticed how she had sounded.

"I think so dear, face it you're growing up," Wesley agreed with a content smile on his face as he half looked back at Faith over his shoulder as she handed the bottle over to an eager Hope.

"Okay then…so what are we going to do about Angel's little…obsession," Faith asked with a nervous frown on her face before Angel stepped in.

"It's not an obsession," Angel called out from the living room with a correcting tone to his voice before he flopped down into one of the chairs and picked up the remote.

"I'm not sure exactly, but whatever it is we'll take a look this afternoon after class, if something supernatural did indeed take place there then we'll find it, until then we'll just play out this day like every other Friday," Wesley said with a nervous and unsure look on his face as he watched the water in the coffee mugs heat up.

"Okay…but B wanted to come over tonight and talk about baby's…and stuff," Faith added with a hesitant and almost scared look on her face as she turned slightly away from Hope and blanched.  

"She probably just wants to talk to you about becoming a mother Faith, I'm sure that she's not going to grill you on what we've been doing the last three years, they all did enough of that at the party…speaking of which we're going to have to put up a fence somewhere…and name the two newest additions to the family…how about Romulus and Remus," Wesley said softly as he tried his best to calm Faith's nerves before his expression changed to one of deep thought.

"Whoa there Wes…there's no way in you know where that we're going to name those two dogs after the mythical founders of Rome, we should name them something else," Faith declared with a very certain and strong look on her face as the microwave dinged to make it clear that it was done.

"Fair enough, but we can't wait to long to name them, and do you want to talk to Buffy alone tonight or should I sit in with you two to serve as referee, because I can if…," Wesley said with a concerned look on his face as he set the two cups down onto the counter on hot pads and laid the tea bags in them.

"I think that this time Buffy and I can sit and talk for a few hours without resorting to an all out catfight, besides women in our condition shouldn't be fighting," Faith retorted with a serious but yet a little bit more lighthearted smile on her face before Wesley handed her one of the mugs of tea.

"I couldn't agree more," Wesley interjected softly with a hopeful smile on his face before he slid an arm around Faith's waist and pulled her close, breathing in deep the many scents that made up the woman of his dreams.

*                            *                          *                             *                           *               *

"Something the matter luv," Spike asked softly before he yawned deeply and pulled the sheets back up to his chin.

"Yes…no…I'm not sure, ever since we talked to Faith I've had this sinking feeling that we're about to get swallowed up by something that we were sent here to stop, I'm not sure if we can defeat it," Buffy replied with a scared look on her face as she turned over onto her side and stared straight over at Spike.

"Don't worry pet, it doesn't matter what big bad has crawled out of hell we'll send it straight back," Spike said with a confident smile on his face as he also rolled over onto his side so that he and Buffy were staring straight at each other.

"Somehow Spike I don't think that it'll be that easy…I don't think that we'll all make it through this time…there's going to be casualties," Buffy continued with a very serious and scared look on her face as she tried her best to hold back the tears before Spike stayed silent and pulled her into his arms and comforted her as best he could while the rest of the city began its day.

**Author's Note:**  Sorry for not adding a chapter in a while but I decided to finish Second Chances first to help cut down on the total number of stories that I was writing, but I'm back now to Future Imperfect so please read and review, reviews are greatly appreciated.  And I could use help in naming the dogs, I chose Great Danes because my family has almost always had a Great Dane and I love that type of dog.

END OF CHAPTER 18


	19. Doom And Gloom, And Dawn

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**Author's Note:  I should have said that I finished Three Strikes instead of Second Chances in my last Author's Note.  I think that now I'll go one story at a time, finishing each before returning to write You're Out, the third story in the Second Chances line.**

**CHAPTER 19-DOOM AND GLOOM, AND DAWN**

Wesley's Friday midmorning class had an hour break in the middle for the students to go to lunch or basically do whatever they wanted to do before returning to the classroom to continue the class.  It was a class of ancient languages and deciphering.  Unlike most of the other classes Faith spent most of Friday's class either correcting the assignments from other classes or continuing to pursue her own private studies.  The first half of the class went well enough with most of the class actually showing up for the first time in weeks and by the time the lunch break came Wesley and Faith had quickly checked up on Hope before returning to the lecture hall for some quiet time to decompress.

"Do you want some dip Faith," Wesley asked with a tired look on his face as he held up the small plastic cup filled with the cheddar flavored dip.

"No thanks…I'm pregnant remember, gotta watch my girlish figure," Faith replied softly with the slightest touches of sarcasm in her voice as she shook her head, allowing her soft chocolate tresses to collapse in front of her face.

"Oh yes I forgot, please forgive me," Wesley mumbled back softly before leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the desk.  

"You're forgiven…this time, but only because you forgot to shave this morning and you know what that look does to me," Faith said back with a queen like wave of her free hand while she scrolled down on her laptop with the other.

"Why thank you milady…may I ask what you're so absorbed in that you can't even look at me when you…," Wesley started to say with a slightly concerned look on his face before Faith's shoulders slumped a bit and she turned around in her chair to face him.

"Sorry about that, but I was just trying to find that Mr. Saburon that Nick and Callie told us about …you know do a little background research, but I can't find anything past about three years ago, I mean nothing…no birth certificate, no drivers license, no high school or college graduation…not even," Faith replied with a nervous and somewhat scared look on her face as she clasped her hands together and laid them on her lap.

"That doesn't make any sense, a person cannot just simply not exist until three years ago…are you sure that you looked everywhere, maybe Willow should take a look," Wesley intoned with a deep in thought frown on his face as he pulled his feet off of the desk and began to pace around the room.

"Why…don't you trust me…that I can't do it…," Faith started to ask with a worried look on her face as she pulled up her feet to rest them on top of the rollers and clasped the edges of the chair tightly before Wesley spun around on his heel and knelt down in front of the chair, laying one hand on her knee and the other on her shoulder after softly brushing it against her cheek.

"Of course I trust you Faith, don't ever doubt that, I only brought up the possibility of Willow doing it so that you wouldn't be overworked, I'm sorry if I made it seem like I didn't think that you could handle it," Wesley said softly with a very sincere and heartfelt look on his face and tone to his voice before he pulled Faith up into his arms and gripped her in a tight bear hug that she quickly returned. 

"It's just that…damn these hormones," Faith started to reply with a soft tone to her voice before a tear slipped out and she cursed angrily.

"Yes…damn those bloody hormones to hell," Wesley added with a slightly cheesy smile on his face before he brought his hand up and wiped away the tear.

"Damn them to hell…," Faith uttered softly, barely in a whisper, with an equally cheesy smile on her face before she pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and kissed Wesley with a passion that she had been holding back for some time.  Within seconds her kiss seemed to light a fire within him and he returned the kiss with a passion equal to hers.

"Uh…eww…," Dawn said with a grossed out expression on her face as she crossed her arm and leaned up against the doorframe, book bag slung over her shoulder. 

"Dawn…," Wesley shouted with an embarrassed smile on his face as he and Faith shot apart and tried their best to regain their composure.

"Damn…," Faith grumbled with an angry scowl on her face as she looked away and smoothed out her shirt.

"Look I can come back later if you two want to be alone…," Dawn said with a nervous and somewhat hesitant look on her face as she started to stand back up and turn away.  

"No…Dawn…stay, please…I'm sorry we just got a little carried away…," Faith exclaimed with a nervous look on her face as she looked up at Wesley, who's face flushed red in return on top of a smile.  

"Hey no big, you can get carried away all that you want, you're married and expecting a baby…you're allowed," Dawn said back with now a happy smile on her face as she slowly walked into the classroom and set her book bag down on the seat of the first chair that she came to that was open.

"Not that we're not happy to see you Dawn but was there…something that you needed, nothing bad has happened that we should know about has it," Wesley asked with a concerned look on his face as he laid a hand on Faith's shoulder and used a particular look in his eyes to keep her where she was.  Faith debated for a second or to on whether to break away but seemed to get the feeling that Wesley was silently sending her way and relaxed a bit, allowing herself to be pulled into a one arm hug, laying her head on Wesley's shoulder.

"Oh no nothing bad's happened, it's just that there was a passage in the Dringogen texts that I couldn't decipher and I thought that you could…if you're not busy that is," Dawn said with a relieved look on her face as she sunk down into the seat of a nearby chair, passively eying the purple pen on the desk portion of it.  

"Well then I believe that I can help you with that," Wesley said with a confidant and somewhat relieved smile on his face before he let go of Faith and walked around behind his desk.

"Well since you two are going to be pouring over that old dusty book for awhile I'm going to check and make sure that Hope isn't being to much of a hassle in nursery," Faith said with a short breath as she tucked a few stray hairs back behind her ear and started to the door before Wesley picked his head up from the desk.

"I love you…," Wesley said with a very sincere and apologetic look on his face as he turned his head and stared at Faith.

"I love you to Wesley," Faith replied with a calm look on her face before she couldn't suppress a smile any longer and shook her head as she left the room.

"Everything okay between you two because I could have sworn that when I came in the two of you…," Dawn started to ask with a worried look on her face as she pulled the Dringogen text out of her book bag and carried it to Wesley's desk.

"Don't worry about Faith and I Dawn, we're okay, if you think that this is bad you should have seen her when she was pregnant with Hope, she barely let me touch her back then," Wesley replied with a nervous smile on his face as he sat down in his chair and got out a magnification glass before adding, "So which passage was it exactly that was giving you so much trouble?"  

"I could decipher most of the legend about the reptilian fire breathing demons that terrorized this area a long time ago before suddenly disappearing one night…and last night I had a slayer dream that seemed to almost mirror that murder with the guy in that tree sometime last night," Dawn replied with a very serious look on her face as she crossed her arms and leaned slightly against the desk.

"A slayer dream…that's odd…Faith didn't have one, or if she did she didn't say anything about it to me…hmm," Wesley said softly with a gravely serious look on his face as he leaned back in his chair and put a hand to his chin in a thoughtful pose.

"She might not have had one Wesley, even back when I was still living at home with Buffy and Spike I would get a slayer dream and she wouldn't, or vice versa…so don't get your knickers in a…God I'm starting to sound like Spike now…," Dawn added with an unsure shrug of her shoulders before she stopped abruptly with the realization of the latter part of her statement and smiled through the rest of it.  

"I'll ask her when she gets back…carrot…," Wesley started to say with a somewhat worried look on his face before he picked up the discarded cup of cheddar dip and looked to Dawn.

*                            *                             *                          *                      *                       *

"Wanna explain to me just what we're doing here pet, anyone sees us and they'll probably call the bloody police, and I don't exactly fancy spending the rest of this trip in a jail cell answering questions," Spike asked with a somewhat hesitant look on his face as he stood around making sure that no one was looking their way while Buff ducked underneath the police tape. 

"Because Spike someone was murdered her last night, and from the article in the paper it sounded like he was wearing a lot of high tech gear and carrying a weapon that's banned in the U.S….sound like anybody we know," Buffy said with a noticeable amount of scorn in her voice as she held the police tape up for Spike to pass underneath.

"Captain Cardboard…the Initiative…bloody hell…," Spike growled with an angry scowl on his face as his thoughts flooded back like a raging river to the secretive government agency that had outfitted him with a violence towards human countering chip in his head.  The only good outcome of receiving the chip had been the time that he had spent with Buffy, fighting at her side, protecting her and her friends, and finally falling in love with the love of his life, the woman with who's help he would later regain his humanity, most of it anyway.

"Spike I highly doubt that Riley is here, and even if he is I am carrying your baby you know, he won't try anything…," Buffy interjected with a very serious and somewhat annoyed look on her face as she knelt down beside the base of the tree.

"Bloody right he won't try anything…I'll kill him if he even goes near you…the wanker," Spike grumbled with a thinly veiled ocean of resentment and distrust in his voice towards the soldier.

"You're going to have to let your hatred of Riley go sometime Spike, it's been almost five years since you've even seen him and…," Buffy started to say with a bored look on her face as she used a stick to sift through the ashes before Spike cut in.

"It hasn't been long enough pet, did I ever tell you about the time that he came storming into my crypt and drove a stake through my heart…nearly gave me a heart attack…then I learn that the stake was only wood grain…," Spike started to ramble with an angry frown on his face before Buffy winced in pain and one of her hands shot to her stomach.  Stopping instantly, almost as if he had seen Buffy act, Spike looked down and was at her side instantly.  "What is it luv…what's wrong…Buffy," Spike asked with a great deal of confusion and fear in his voice as he put his arms around Buffy.

"It's nothing…I'm fine Spike…really, I guess that it's just the aftershocks of the morning sickness hitting me," Buffy said with a worried look on her face as she tried to keep from looking Spike in the eye.  No matter how hard she tried she had found that she could never lie to Spike when staring into his loving eyes.  In fact she hadn't been able to lie very well to him ever since he had returned to Sunnydale abruptly one night and kidnapped Xander and Willow, wanting a love spell done.  She had even admitted the fact to Angel, but he had shrugged it off.

"If you say so Buffy, but if it happens again I'm taking you to a hospital no matter what you say," Spike said with a very serious look on his face before all Buffy could do was nod her head in acceptance.

"The newspaper said that the body was found high up in the tree, I wonder what he was doing so far up there," Buffy asked with a confused and concerned look on her face as she tilted her head up to look up the tree.

"Taking a nap…," Spike quipped with an odd smirk on his face before he had to do his best to not laugh out loud at the quizzical look that Buffy cast his way.

"Not likely, he was probably looking for someone…," Buffy guessed with a deep in thought look on her face as she stood up and brushed the soot off of her hands.

"Or maybe he was watching someone, like surveillance, following someone around," Spike added with a slowly dawning look of worry and concern on his face as he stood up beside her and looked around.

"You could be right Spike, maybe he was using those heat vision goggles to pick the vampires out of the human populace as they walked by this tree," Buffy said softly as she and Spike made their way back towards the police tape.

"Or using them to look into the buildings around here and see what was going on inside, keeping track of someone," Spike again added with a serious look on his face as he held up the police tape for Buffy to duck under before he himself slipped under the tape.

"I hate to admit it Spike, but this is starting to sound more and more like something that the Initiative had something to do with it," Buffy said with a look of fear and dread on her face as she turned to Spike.

"We should go back and tell Rupert about this, maybe he and Wesley can figure out what the Initiative might be doing here, Angel will probably want to know to, he never could stay away from something like this," Spike said with a deep sigh and shrug of his shoulders as he and Buffy walked away from the burnt out husk of the tree.

"Okay…we'll go to talk to Angel, but can we get a little lunch first, I'm starving," Buffy asked with a slow nod of her head before she looked to Spike with a meek frown on her face and a hand over her growling stomach.  Even after becoming mostly human again Spike had retained a great deal of his vampire senses, he had heard her growling stomach a bit earlier and had intended to ask her to go to lunch but she had beaten him to the proverbial punch on that subject.

"Of course luv…of course," Spike said with a small chuckle as he looped an arm around Buffy's shoulders before Buffy to was caught up in the humor of it all.

*                           *                         *                      *                              *                          *

"So did you help Dawn out with her little problem," Faith asked with a bored look on her face as she walked back into the classroom and sat down beside Wesley.

"Yes, although I wish that it foretold how to dispatch the reptilian fire breathing demons…instead…," Wesley answered with a grim frown on his face before he leaned back in his chair and let Faith drape her feet over his lap.  

"Instead…what, let me guess that little passage that you helped Dawnie with foretold of some big apocalyptic battle that's supposed to happen pretty soon…and that we'll all perish in the fight, am I close," Faith said with an almost mocking smile on her face as she ran her hands through her hair.

"Eerily so…," Wesley started to say with a very grim look on his face before he had to turn away as a sea of tears threatened to gush out.

"Wesley…what's wrong…," Faith asked with a worried look on her face as her smile died in an instant and focused her gaze on Wesley.  When he kept looking away and didn't reply she became even more worried.  "Wesley stop it okay…you're scaring me…and I don't particularly like getting scared, especially when it comes to you," Faith demanded with a very serious look on her face as she slowly stood up and walked over to Wesley before sitting down across his lap and pulling his gaze back onto her.

"In the translation there was a passage that foretold vaguely how the demons were repulsed all those years ago…they were only turned back by the blood of a champion…only this champion had to give all of her blood to close the portal," Wesley stuttered out softly as he struggled against his own fear to keep his gaze locked onto Faith's.

"Okay…so I'm getting that this champion chick had to die to close the portal but I don't get why it's making you wig out so much that I'm about ready to piss my pants," Faith said haltingly with a scared look on her face as she draped one arm around Wesley's shoulders.

"Because in the description of the champion it described someone that had tasted the darkness within herself and fought against it before returning to the light and changing her very nature for the man that she loved and their daughter," Wesley managed to choke out before two solitary tears managed to slip out and run down his face.

"That sounds a little to close for comfort Wes…," Faith whispered softly with a panicked look on her face as she wiped away the tears and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I should have seen this coming…everything was going to well for…," Wesley started to say with an almost defeated look on his face before Faith leaned down and placed a soft and gentle kiss on his lips.

"Listen Wesley, I don't give a damn what that old book says, there's no way in hell that I'm going to do anything…or let anything happen that'll hurt you…Faith…and whoever's in here," Faith said softly in a whisper before she punctuated each person's name with a soft kiss on Wesley's lips.  At the end she placed Wesley's hand over her stomach and laid her hand overtop of his.  "I love you more than I ever thought that I could love anyone, I thought for a very long time that love was for losers, something that made you weak, until you showed me that loved that I was wrong, love doesn't make you weak, it makes you strong, and with enough love you can do anything," Faith continued with an ever growing look of certainty on her face as she pressed her forehead against his and almost forced Wesley to look her in the eye to see that her words to him were true and straight from her heart.

"I know…that's why whenever this fight does happen I'm not going to let you out of my sight for single second, no matter what Angel or Buffy or anyone else…including you, says…got it…," Wesley said with a very serious and determined look on his face as he cupped Faith's cheek with his free hand and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Got it…," Faith replied softly through a short burst of tears of her own before she returned the kiss, not caring a bit as the first few students began to mope back into the classroom.

END OF CHAPTER 19


	20. So What Do You Think?

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 20-SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?**

The remaining time left in class passed by quickly enough, although not to Faith.  Ever since her short talk with Wesley earlier she hadn't been able to get the translation of her head, no matter how hard she tried.  She had sworn to him that no matter what happened they would both make it through the battle that they were both sure was coming.  The two didn't speak as they gathered their supplies and then deposited them in Wesley's SUV before venturing to the murder scene.  Wesley walked out first, acting as if he were only an innocent bystander instead of a detective, of sorts, trying to determine what caused the fire and why it happened.  Faith stood back up against the hard stone of the library, waiting for her cue to begin her trek.  They had played this spy game many times since leaving Sunnydale, with each taking turns being the leader and the other being the follower.  Faith had always excelled in being the follower however had always failed in being the leader as she'd either get impatient and forget the signals or ignore them altogether and just try to do everything herself. She didn't have long to wait before she saw Wesley wave her over with a grim frown on his face.

"Found anything Wes," Faith asked with a serious look on her face as she cast a quick look around before returning her gaze to her husbands face.

"Not yet…the ground around this tree is charred…," Wesley replied with an unsure frown on his face as he looked up at Faith while crouching down near the police tape.

"Uh hate to wet the papers for ya Wes but…the tree was burned…charring is to be expected in this situation," Faith added with an openly sarcastic look on her face and tone to her voice before she did her best to withhold a chuckle.

"I'm aware of that Faith, but I was trying to make the point in that the charring extends so far out, farther even than the extent of the farthest root, all the way to the cement walkway…this fire wasn't natural, someone or something set it and murdered the man, whoever he was," Wesley said with a very serious and grim look on his face as he shook his head and looked back down at the ground.

"Okay…so do we have a case of simple arson…or is there something much more insidious going on here…because it could be just some stupid college prank that went way out of control…things like this have happened before ya know, although nobody actually died in those," Faith interjected with a thoughtful look on her face as she took a step back and let her gaze slowly ascend the trunk of the tree.

"I don't believe that this was some sort of college prank Faith…or arson…exactly, it seems to be more that the fire began and ended in this exact spot, but the fire was not started here…I don't see any signs of any accelerants that could have been used, it's almost as if someone were to have shot a flaming arrow into the tree from a rooftop," Wesley said with a look of disbelief on his face before he and Faith slipped underneath the police tape. 

"That's easier said that done Wes, I mean look how far the tree is away from any of the buildings, that'd have to be one hell of a bow to fire an arrow that far," Faith said with a deep in thought and slightly confused look on her face and her hands on her hips as she stared back and forth between the tops of the surrounding buildings and the burnt tree.

"Hmm…you're right…," Wesley mumbled softly under his breath with an impatient frown on his face before he could only roll his eyes and sigh as Faith broke in with a chipper smile on her face.

"Aren't I always…," Faith chimed in proudly as she crossed her arms across her chest and rolled forward on her toes, a sexy smile spread widely across her face.

"Most of the time yes…but there was that time last week…," Wesley started to reply with a slight sigh and shrug of his shoulders before he almost visibly cringed as he waited for the backlash.

"Hey whoa now…don't start that…yeah I knew it was tuna but it said Chicken Of The Sea…Jessica Simpson got it wrong to…," Faith pouted with an unhappy frown on her face as she walked forward and poked Wesley in the ribs with her index finger.

"Yes…but she's a mass marketed pop queen and you're…well you're…," Wesley began his reply in earnest as he tried his best to hide his sarcastic smile before Faith caught on and stepped in.

"And I'm…what…exactly…," Faith asked with a very serious frown on her face as she leaned down and let out a breath directly into Wesley's ear, eliciting a slight shiver from her former watcher turned husband.

"The love of my life dear…," Wesley replied with a nervous smile on his face as he turned his head back around to look up at Faith.

"Exactly…and don't you go forgetting it," Faith added with a spunky grin on her face before she leaned down and pressed her lips against Wesley's in a soft kiss.  Soon the two were walking back towards Wesley's SUV, a quick trip to the daycare to pick Hope up, and the trip back home to talk to Angel.

*                      *                         *                              *                   *                         *

Spike barely touched his lunch, spending most of the meal staring in amazement at the future mother of his child, nearly shoveling heaping plates of food into her mouth.  During the entire run of the almost ten years that he had known her Spike had never seen Buffy eat anything close to this amount.  But with the baby coming and all he remembered that Dawn had told him that this was to be expected.  Even through that advice though Spike had to bite his tongue to keep from saying something before the two left the restaurant and headed back towards Wesley and Faith's house.  During lunch Buffy had gotten a call from Giles saying that he was going to talk to Angel about the apocalypse that he and Gwen were in New York to prevent.  Taking the opportunity to figuratively kill two birds with one stone they had agreed to meet later.

"Bloody hell…alright luv…I promise I won't stake Peaches on sight…," Spike grumbled softly with an annoyed look on his face as he kept his eyes glued onto the road as he directed their car off of the highway.

"Good…because that's the last thing that I need right now…urk…scratch that, the last thing that I need right now is for you to hit any more bumps…," Buffy said with a nervous and slightly tired look on her face before she had to fight back the urge to vomit as Spike violently rolled over a bump in the road.

"I'll try not to pet…your stomach still bothering you," Spike asked with a worried look on his face as he snuck a quick peek over at Buffy.  

"Yeah…but not like before…now I'm just queasy Buffy…ya know maybe I shouldn't have had that last burrito…," Buffy managed to get out before her stomach made an odd noise and Spike pulled the car off onto the shoulder.  Spike had only just put the car into park before Buffy had thrown off her seatbelt and rushed down into the ditch.  He started to go and see if she was alright but a loud retching sound told him everything that he needed to know.

"Feel any better…," Spike asked softly with a gentle look of concern on his face as Buffy slowly willed herself back into the car and let Spike buckle her in.

"No…creating new life sucks…," Buffy mumbled back her answer with a sickly pout on her face as she hung her head and curled up against her seat, looking almost as if she were trying to get comfortable to go to sleep.

"It does at that pet…at least for now, but pretty soon…," Spike started to say, with the intent of cheering her up, with an optimistic smile on his face as he got himself situated again before Buffy cut in.

"But pretty soon I'm going to be as big as a beached whale…or bigger…I'll be retaining more water that the Titanic," Buffy moaned with a distraught look on her face before she turned her attention back to the window for the rest of the trip.

*                        *                            *                            *                        *                        *

After making his call to Buffy Giles had continued on his way to Wesley and Faith's house, hopeful to discuss the upcoming apocalypse with Angel.  The scene that he had walked in on was anything but hopeful, at least in his eyes.  He walked into the barn expecting Angel and Gwen to be taking care of Wesley and Faith's new puppies, not to be in the position that they were in.  As he entered the barn Giles was in the process of wiping a bit of perspiration off of his brow.  Gwen lay on the floor with Angel on top of her.  That position in and of itself wasn't what nearly gave the old watcher a heart attack, that almost reaction came from the fact that Gwen was next to naked, clad in only a thong pair of panties and a cut off white shirt that was stained through with sweat and clinging ever so tightly to Gwen's toned body.  Angel was a bit more clothed but sans shirt.  The moment that Giles caught sight of Angel and Gwen in what looked like a wrestling embrace he turned away and loudly cleared his throat, hoping that the two would get the message, luckily for him they did.  Angel half stumbled back to his feet, carrying a shaken and shocked Gwen with him, before he deftly grabbed his coat and swung it around her slim shoulders.

"I don't even want to know what it was that the two of you were doing, honestly I don't think that my heart could take it," Giles said softly, with a great deal of energy being used to keep himself calm, as he slowly entered the barn and walked past a visibly nervous Gwen and Angel.

"We were just…," Gwen started to stutter out with a flabbergasted and well hidden embarrassment frown on her face before she turned to Angel and glared at him for an answer.

"We were just doing a little…uh…sparring…you know, trying to keep fit…," Angel quickly stammered out his reply as if vampires could blush his face would have been a deep red.

"Well Ms. Raiden looked quite fit to me Angel, I really don't see how any more training of…that…nature would have helped…," Giles chimed in with a suppressed smirk on his face as he stared at the ground and once again wiped the sweat off of his brow.  "Bloody hell it is hot in here…," Giles mumbled with a weary frown on his face before being interrupted by Angel.

"See Giles it is hot in here, we were sparring and Gwen started to get hot…so she…," Angel started to say with one of his usual cheesy smiles before Giles tiredly waived him off with a short wave of his hand.  "Right…so you wanted to see me about something…or maybe Wesley or Faith," Angel added with a less than thrilled smirk on his face as he brushed a little bit of dirt off of his hands and pulled his shirt on.

"I can wait until they get home, actually I was hoping to talk to you about the vision that you said that Lorne had that brought you and Ms Raiden here in the first place," Giles said with a little bit more serious look on his face as he leaned back up against the wall.

"Sorry I can't really help you with that, Lorne just told us to come here and stop an apocalypse, now if the two of you don't mind I'm going to go inside and take a shower," Gwen interjected with a nervous smile on her face before she grabbed a gym bag and rushed out of the barn, Angel's coat pulled tight around her.

"Lorne didn't tell us much actually, all that he said was that there was an apocalypse that was going to take place in New York City within the next week or so and we had to come here and stop it, I'm not exactly sure what the apocalypse that we're supposed to stop is but something's telling me that it has something to do with that article in the newspaper this morning," Angel said softly in the follow up as he began to slowly walk back and forth around the barn, casting a weary eye towards the puppies when they whimpered and whined.  

"So you read it as well…the pictures and article seemed to be lacking in actual facts, it's almost as if someone censored what was released, this does not bode well for our efforts," Giles said with a very serious look on his face as he reached up and scratched his chin.  

"Well hopefully Wesley and Faith will have found something in their inspection that we can use," Angel said with a thoughtful look on his face as he reached down and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Well when I talked to Buffy she said that she and Spike were going to check the area out as well, but even with them giving the location a once over I think that it would be prudent if after nightfall you were to go there yourself, scout the area and see if you can pick up anything…a scent that the police would obviously have missed because they weren't looking for it," Giles said with a very serious look on his face before he reached down and opened up the cooler at his feet.

"Don't worry Giles, I won't be able to rest until I've looked that site over, but when are Spike and Buffy…wait, they're here," Angel started to say with almost a bored look on his face before he stopped abruptly and turned back towards the door and then finished.

"They are, how can you…," Giles asked with a surprised frown on his face as he stood up and took a step towards Angel.

"I'd know their scents anywhere Giles," Angel replied with a nervous look on his face before he turned around and started walking back towards the interior of the barn, casting the two young puppies an awkward glance as they whined a bit.

"Oh yes…of course," Giles mumbled softly under his breath with a slightly embarrassed look on his face before he couldn't help but smile.

"Giles…Angel," Buffy shouted, still with a sickly look on her face, as she and Spike walked towards the barn.  She had started to feel better but was still a bit queasy and hoped that Spike and Angel could control their emotions and keep the discussion a calm one.

"We're in here Buffy," Giles called back with a serious look on his face as his smile slowly faded into a worried frown as he saw Spike push the barn door open a bit further and almost coddle Buffy inside.  Even though it upset him how Buffy looked to not be feeling very well Giles had to admit that it did warm his heart to see Spike doting over her like he was.  

"What's wrong…," Angel asked, almost immediately upon seeing her slightly pale face, as he rushed forward but stopped as he neared Spike.

"She's fine Peaches…mostly, just ate something that didn't agree with her is all," Spike said with a worried look on his face, and without taking his gaze off of Buffy.

"Here…Buffy, sit here," Angel said with a shaky tone to his voice as he rushed over and set up a small spot on one of the hale bales for Buffy to sit, not moving an inch though as Spike guided her over to the spot and then sat down beside her.

"Thanks…," Buffy mouthed more than said softly as she sat down and closed her eyes while Giles circled around.  Impatiently Angel glared down at Spike and asked silently with his eyes and expression on his face what was really wrong with Buffy.  In response Spike only cocked his head to one side and mouthed the word baby.  

"Did you find anything of use at the site of the murder," Giles asked with a worried look on his face as he reached down and took a bottle of water out of the cooler and handed it to Buffy.

"Not really…only that Buffy and I think that whoever was up in that tree was keeping an eye on someone…or something, and that this whole thing smells a bit to much like the Initiative…bloody wankers…," Spike replied quickly before Buffy could as he twisted off the top of the bottle, all without looking at anyone but Buffy.

"The Initiative…who…what would they be doing here," Angel started to ask with a confused look on his face before he remembered the long discussion that he and Buffy had about the secret government agency a year earlier.

"Who knows…the Initiative does what it wants, whenever it wants, and doesn't tell anyone why…," Buffy stuttered out softly with an uncomfortable look on her face before she leaned into Spike a bit and took a sip of the bottle of water.

"Sounds like you Peaches…," Spike started to say with a daring grin plastered across his face while wrapping a supportive arm around Buffy before he felt her stiffen and he relaxed his rhetoric.  "They could be after Wesley or Faith," Spike continued with a little bit more look of worry on his face as he looked up at Angel and Giles, both of whom only furrowed their brows and scowled heavily.

"I don't think so…if they were after Wesley or Faith why haven't they made their move yet…it's been almost three years…and if they were going to put surveillance on why would they have put that guy up in the tree to get flambéed, we're missing something," Angel thought audibly with a concerned look on his face as he slowly began to walk around the barn, preferring not to look at how cozy Buffy and Spike were together.

"Maybe they read a hotspot but can't get a fix on it and are monitoring anyone that they think could lead them to it…Wesley did say that his friend Nick had done some deciphering of some of the school's ancient texts…," Giles concluded with a growing look of concern on his face before Buffy broke in.

"They probably thought that he knew something and decided to follow him, but that still wouldn't explain our friend in the tree," Buffy said with a little bit calmer look on her face as she looked up from her seat beside Spike.

"Angel…could the apocalypse that Lorne sent you and Gwen here to stop be somehow connected to the Initiatives activities…maybe you're after the same apocalyptic event," Giles wondered out loud with an impatient frown on his face and hand on his chin as he turned to Angel, who could only shrug his shoulders and shake his head through a frown.

"Speaking of Gwen…where is that bird…surprised that she's not out here…," Spike asked with a bored look on his face as he looked up and then around the barn.

"Gwen…she went inside to take a shower," Angel exclaimed quickly with a nervous look on his face and a quick glance Giles' way, hoping that the old watcher wouldn't say anything.  

"We should wait for Wesley and Faith to get home and talk this over with them before doing anything," Buffy said with a tired look on her face before she laid her head on Spike's shoulder.

"A wise decision…if the Initiative is here then it's best that we don't jump into anything until we know all of the facts," Giles said with a somewhat relieved look on his face as he shuffled his feet a bit.

"Rupert…if the bloody Initiative is involved we'll never know…all of the facts, no matter how hard we try," Spike interjected with a serious and almost angry scowl on his face as he hugged Buffy tightly.

"Quite right…," Giles mumbled back in reply with a very serious look on his face before he walked towards the door, finally stopping as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"Well we won't get anything further done until they get back so I think that until then Buffy should go inside and lie down," Angel said with a very determined and worried look on his face as he looked down at Buffy, half expecting either Spike or Buffy to challenge his opinion.  But that was not the reaction that he got.

"Angel's right luv…you should get some rest," Spike whispered softly into Buffy's ear before he ushered her out of the barn and back towards the house, leaving a tired and weary Giles and Angel to await Faith and Wesley's return.

END OF CHAPTER 20


	21. Tribal Council

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 21-TRIBAL COUNCIL**

Their trip home was mostly done in silence, save for the random shouts by their daughter from the backseat.  After leaving the school Wesley and Faith had both begun to mull over everything that had happened in their own mind.  Faith took the time to try to figure out who she would want to talk to as she knew a few people that would have been out at that time of night.  Although most of them were unsavory characters at best she had gotten good enough information from them in the past for her to continue to use them as information gatherers.  A few bills here and there were all it took to get their allegiance.  Wesley's mind meanwhile was consumed with trying to answer some of the nagging questions in the back of his mind.  From the evidence left at the murder scene he knew that the death was no accident and that unfortunately it was most likely only the beginning.  Unconsciously along the drive home Wesley's right hand had found itself resting on the center console, palm up, with Faith's left hand overtop of it, their fingers intertwined in a dance of love and hope.

"Looks like everyone's here…guess that'll save us a few bucks on our next phone bill," Faith said with an almost melancholy tint to her voice as she laid her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

"Let's just hope that they've found something…anything…that we may have missed, I have a bad feeling that the shi…the you know what is going to hit the fan…soon," Wesley started to say with a very grim frown on his face as he pulled the SUV into the garage before Faith cocked an eyebrow and smirked but kept her eyes closed as he caught himself in time before cursing in front of Hope.

"You almost lost it there Wes…," Faith joked with a soft smile on her face as Wesley put the SUV into park and turned the engine off.

"But I didn't Faith…that's what's important," Wesley returned with a slightly nervous smile on his face as he and Faith slipped out of the SUV and Faith opened the back door as she began to unbuckle a slightly fussy Hope.

"So when do you want to start the big meeting, before or after supper, because I haven't eaten since lunch and stomach is really starting to growl," Faith asked with a hungry look on her face as she pulled Hope out of her car seat and cradled her young daughter in her arms.

"I think that it'd be best if we waited until later, undoubtedly there's an enormous load of laundry that needs to be done and we have to grade these tests," Wesley replied with an uninterested look on his face as he lightly patted his briefcase.  The expression on Faith's face soured and she wrinkled her nose at the thought of doing either the laundry or helping Wesley grade the tests.  

"Well then here's some good news, you won't have to worry about ordering anything for Buffy," Spike said with a concerned look on his face as he stood in the doorway that led out of the garage, hands unceremoniously slung into the pockets of his jeans.

"Is she okay…," Faith asked softly with a worried look on her face and concerned tone to her voice as she walked around the front of the car, ducking out of the way of her bike hanging on the wall.  Spike shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he slowly walked down the short flight of steps into the garage.

"For the most part yeah…she's fine, it's just the baby getting her stomach all upset and…," Spike trailed off with an almost sickly expression on his face that told Faith and Wesley all that they needed to know.

"Well then let's hope that she's feeling better after some rest…she is resting…," Wesley asked softly with a look of concern on his face before his expression softened as Spike nodded his head.

"It sucks to be pregnant," Faith muttered with an angry frown on her face before she couldn't hide a smile as Hope reached out and grabbed her nose, a silly smile spread across her face.

"I'm sure it does…," Wesley began with a nervous sigh and shrug of his shoulders before he followed Spike and Faith back into the house.

*                         *                         *                           *                       *                           *

Four hours, and a hectic afternoon of trying to play with the puppies while keeping them and Hope out of the garden, later Wesley and Faith had taken care of the tests and the laundry.  The time had allowed for everyone important to the task at hand to return to Wesley and Faith's house.  Faith and Wesley stood in the doorway talking softly with Hope in Faith's arms and Wesley's arms around her as she laid her head back up against his chest.  Spike, oddly enough, sat beside Angel near the back of the barn, the two seemingly lost in a hushed conversation about something that both seemed very interested in.  Dawn had a previous commitment with some friends and couldn't attend but had demanded not to be left out of whatever the group decided to do.  Willow paced the room nervously with Fred eyeing her with a confused look on her face as she sifted through her party mix, looking for the cashews.  Gunn was busy talking with Connor while looking the weapons over in one of the smaller rooms off to the side of the barn.  Buffy was up in the loft in the back of the barn sound asleep, much to Spike's relief.  Giles had erected a few tables in the middle of the room with chairs all the way around, occupying the one of most importance himself.  Gwen unhappily leaned up against one of the support posts in the barn, arms crossed, as she looked back at Spike and Angel, counting the seconds until the two finished their conversation.  Cordelia had remained back at the hotel with Liam and Christopher, who Anya and Xander had left with her while they went out to see a Broadway show and visit some of Anya's old friends from her days as a vengeance demon.  

"Alright everyone, I think it's high time that we start this meeting, so if you'll all please take your seats," Giles said with a very authoritative tone to his voice as he only half looked up at those in attendance.  At first Spike and Angel acted as if they hadn't heard the old watcher, continuing their conversation.  The two only broke off their talk when Gwen sighed loudly and stormed her way towards the tables, taking a seat of the end farthest away from Giles.  That act brought a nervous look from Angel before he sighed and shook his head.  No one heard the snide comment that passed from Spike to Angel but Willow snickered at the mere thought of what it was as she took her seat beside Giles.  Gunn and Connor reluctantly pulled themselves away from the wall of weapons and took their seats on the side of the tables, with Gunn saving a seat for an excited Fred.  Wesley and Faith reluctantly left their position at the door and took their seats beside Willow, making sure to keep Hope back far enough from the tables so that she wouldn't have the chance to grab anything important.

"So what's first on the agenda Rupert," Spike asked with an easy going smirk on his face as Angel was to caught up with trying to calm Gwen down to give his two cents.

"Trying to figure out what happened to that man in the tree and if the Initiative is involved in any way," Willow replied with a nervous smile on her face before Connor raised his hand.

"Who…or what is the Initiative," Connor asked with a  confused and almost foreboding frown of concern on his face as he expected to not like what he was about to hear.

"Load of bloody…," Spike started to mumble with an angry scowl on his face before Giles nervously cut in.

"The Initiative Connor are a secretive governmental group who's purpose is to deal with the problems that arise from the non human population of this world," Giles said with a very teacher like tone of voice, one that drew a small stifled groan from Willow as she rolled her eyes.

"They also have a tendency to shoot first and act questions never," Angel added with a very serious and almost angry frown on his face.  

"So in other words kid don't trust them any farther than you can throw a bloody tank, if they get half a chance they'll have you in one of their labs…trying to dissect you like a…," Spike continued with a look of disgust etched across his face as he fought to keep his temper in check.

"Why would they want to dissect me," Connor asked with a very truthful look of some worry on his face as he wasn't exactly sure as to what was going on.

"Because you're Angel's son Connor, you're the son of two master vampires, I highly doubt that it'll matter to the higher ups in the Initiative if you're mostly human or not, they'll only ever see you as something other than human and want to learn all of your secrets," Wesley stated with a very serious tone to his voice as Faith turned first to him and then looked down at Hope, a visible look of fear in her eyes.

"Wait…if they'd do that to Connor…would they do something like that to…Hope," Faith mumbled softly with a rapidly escalating look of fear and concern on her face before everyone in the barn turned their attention solely to her.

"I'll die before I let one of those bloody bastards lay a hand on Hope," Wesley growled with a very determined and powerful look on his face before one by one the others in the room, including Connor, nodded their heads in agreement.

"Faith…Wesley, I doubt that the Initiative has any interest in Hope or your unborn child, Buffy's either…but nevertheless we should be on guard to that eventuality," Giles said with a hopefully calming look on his face and tone to his voice before Connor raised his hand with another question.

"They wouldn't hurt Liam or Christopher would they," Connor asked with a high level of concern clearly evident in his voice as he slowly looked around the tables.

"Why would they want Liam or Christopher…I don't see…oh dear," Giles started to reply with a confused look on his face before his eyes widened at the realization.

"Bloody hell…if we don't watch it they'll have us all strapped to a table in the lab," Spike exclaimed with an angry frown on his face as he slammed his hands down onto the table and stood up before stalking off away from the table.

"Perhaps we should have everyone stay together in one place until this is all settled…that is if the Initiative is actually after us and not the apocalypse that Angel and I came here to stop," Gwen said, finally speaking up, with a serious and frustrated look on her face as she looked around the tables.

"If only we were that lucky," Angel muttered softly under his breath as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, obviously unhappy at the current state of affairs.

"You can just bet that bastard Finn is behind this…still mad at me for showing him that he didn't deserve Buffy, damn git did his best to…," Spike growled with an angry and defiant frown on his face as he stormed back to the table and pointed straight at Giles as if he were trying to further emphasize his point.

"Keep it down will you…and if you could keep from swearing…," Wesley asked with a concerned look on his face that hardened as Spike glared at him until he followed Wesley's gaze to Hope.  Spike looked about ready to retort with some scathing comment but held his tongue and slumped back into his seat, clearly unhappy.

"Hey…what if Buffy or I tried to get in touch with Riley and try to find out what they're up to…," Willow started to offer up as an alternative action before she abruptly stopped talking at the glares that both Spike and Angel gave her, as if silently both were vowing to die before letting Riley anywhere near Buffy in her current condition.

"I believe that it'd be best if we were to do our best to avoid the Initiative," Giles interjected with a frustrated frown on his face as he clasped his hands together in front of him on the table.

"Finally someone's offering something useful," Spike said with a nervous snort as he sat up in his chair and absentmindedly fumbled for a nonexistent cigarette.

"Anyone else think that we should get back to talking about the guy in the tree and who or what he was after before somebody gets hurt," Gunn asked with a restrained look of optimism on his face as he looked around the barn.  

"I hacked into the morgue's database but so far the body hasn't been identified, they've taken dental impressions but don't expect to get any help there, unless someone here found his wallet or something like that I doubt that we'll ever know who he was," Willow said with a sad and serious look on her face as she laid her laptop down on the table in front of her and shrugged her shoulders.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Angel mumbled softly as he looked away and shook his head.

"I'd forgotten how negative those two could be," Faith softly whispered to Wesley as she scooted her chair up next to Wesley's, leaning up against his shoulder as he slung an arm around her shoulders and let Hope grab his index finger.

"Trust me…you haven't seen anything yet," Wesley softly whispered back with a nervous frown on his face before Spike jumped back into the fray.

"Okay so we don't know the identity of the body found in the tree…nor do we have a bloody clue how he got there or why he was there, we know that he was possibly working with the Initiative, that he was probably either watching the crowd of people that passed by the tree to pick out the wolves in sheep's clothing so to speak or he was watching someone, tracking his or her movements," Spike said with a very clear tone to his voice as he crossed his arms and hunched forward a bit, an old habit when he was deep in thought, or bored to death.

"And that the fire that consumed the tree came from some distance away, possibly from one of the rooftops of the buildings that surrounded the tree or from some sort of weapon, but if it was a weapon that lit the tree on fire it would have to have been a very powerful weapon," Faith added with a serious look on her face that was only softened by a whimper from a frustrated Hope.

"Wesley…would the reptilian fire breathing demons that you were helping Dawn research be able to start a tree on fire from a such a distance," Giles asked with a grave look of concern and worry on his face as he wiped a tired hand across his face and turned to Wesley.

"In theory I guess that it'd be possible, but to be sure I'd have to look through the Dringogen text again in more detail, and at the moment Dawn has it," Wesley replied with an unsure shrug of his shoulders as he pulled Faith and Hope a little closer.

"Well the first thing that we should do is have Angel and Spike go and check out that sight once the sun has gone down while the rest of us stay here and wait until tomorrow, then Wesley can get the Dringogen text from Dawn, decipher it some more and we can go from there," Willow said with an optimistic look on her face as she looked around the barn at those assembled.

"Whoa now hold on Red…I think that's a smashing plan…but I'm not leaving Buffy here like this, forget it…," Spike said with a very poorly hidden look of worry on his face as he alternated his gaze back and forth between Willow and the loft in the back of the barn where Buffy still slept.

"Spike…," Giles pleaded with a frustration and somewhat disappointed frown on his face as he looked up from his seat and tried to put on his best watcher face.

"No…Spike's right, with Buffy like this he should be here if she wakes up and is disoriented or worse…I'll go alone," Angel interjected with a very serious look on his face that seemed to indicate that although he believed in what it was that he was saying he couldn't believe that he was actually saying it.  

"I'll go with Angel," Gwen piped up with a bored out of her mind look on her face as she absentmindedly began to dig some dirt out from underneath her fingernails.

"Come to think about it I should probably go to…I'm the best tracker here," Connor chimed in with a nervous and slightly unsure look on his face as he looked back and forth between Angel and Giles.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself mate," Spike said with an almost challenging tone to his voice as he cocked his head to one side and aimed his gaze straight at Connor.

"He's probably right Spike, he's been trained to be a tracker since he was a young boy…alright Connor you can come…but on one condition, I'm in charge, that means that if you sense something you can't go running off on your own, if you find something the three of us will follow the trail okay," Angel said with a nervous shrug of his shoulders as he cautiously glanced over at Connor, who reluctantly nodded his head and then looked away.

"Well now that we have that all settled we should think about getting something to eat, because as they say…an army marches on its stomach," Giles said with almost a palpable sigh of relief as he leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"Nnh…not this one," Buffy mumbled with a tired and somewhat sickly look on her face as she slowly climbed down the ladder and walked towards the tables, Spike was almost instantly at her side with a supportive arm around her.  Angel as well was out of his seat in seconds, drawing a slightly worried and annoyed frown from Gwen.  "I...I'm okay…I feel better than before…really," Buffy added with a weak smile on her face as she turned to Spike before laying her head on his shoulder as outside the sun slipped beneath the horizon.

*                         *                          *                           *                     *                        *

Hours later Wesley finally managed to stumble back into their bedroom, throwing off his shirt as he did so.  Faith sat on their bed, pen and tablet of paper in her hands, wearing her rarely used glasses and scribbling away feverishly with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail that took her hair off of her neck.

"I swear the defense of Bastogne couldn't have been as hard as trying to figure out what everyone wanted on their bloody pizza," Wesley moaned with a tired look on his face as he walked over to the bed and sat down by Faith's feet.

"Maybe…but at least McAuliffe could give a reply of nuts when faced with a situation similar to this, you're being to hard on yourself Wesley…again, the world's not going to end right this second if you're not on top of everything, come here…," Faith said with a motherly tone of concern in her voice before she set the pad of paper down on the nightstand and beckoned for Wesley to scoot closer to her.

"We knew that this would happen…everything's gone down the bloody shitter…," Wesley grumbled with an unhappy and defeated frown on his face as he slumped his shoulders and scooted closer to Faith with his back to her.

"Everything's gone down the bloody shitter…my, dear…that's being pretty harsh don't you think, this little play isn't over yet and we're all still here…maybe you should wait until we know a bit more about what's going on before you make such a dire assessment," Faith chimed in with a playful smile on her face as she placed her hands on Wesley's shoulders and slowly started to work her hands around to soothe the tension in his tired muscles.  

"Maybe you're right…," Wesley replied softly with a tired sigh as he wiped a hand across his face.

"Maybe…what do you mean maybe…of course I'm right…," Faith cooed back, with bravado of old tone to her voice, softly into Wesley's ear as she couldn't help but smile.

"My wife is a very smart woman," Wesley snickered back with a slightly more relaxed smile on his face as he half turned his head back towards Faith.

"You forgot beautiful…," Faith chided Wesley with a stern yet playful smile on her face as she tapped him hard on the shoulder before he turned around to face her.

"And sexy…and kind…and generous…and loving…a wonderful mother…," Wesley started to say back in between soft and gentle kisses before the rest of the night was lost in candlelight and soft music.

END OF CHAPTER 21


	22. A Thorn In My Side

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 22-A THORN IN MY SIDE**

Angel cautiously made his way along the brick wall of the building, careful to stay in the shadows and keep out of the sight of most of the coeds that were hurriedly making their way back to their dorm rooms in time to get enough sleep to be able to wake up for morning classes.  A quick glance up at the digital clock on the side of one of the buildings reminded Angel that he didn't have to many more hours before the sun would rise and his chance could be lost.  Connor followed close behind, making sure to keep the sword that he wore strapped to his back from casting off any reflections that would garner any unneeded attention.  Gwen did her best to follow father and son and even through her past as a thief she had difficulty keeping up with them.  Along the way she had been forced to duck down and hide behind a rather prickly bush, doing her best to keep from crying out as the thorns dug into the soft skin of her legs.  Because the night had started off warm Gwen had worn shorts, but from almost the moment they got near the crime scene she had regretted her decision.  The temperature seemed to have dropped a dozen degrees in a matter of seconds, sending chills up her spine and bringing goose bumps to the top layer of her skin, instantly shocking anyone that came to close to her.  

"Hey…Gwen, watch it," Connor exclaimed with an angry and frustrated scowl on his face as he turned back and glared menacingly at the woman that was trying her best to capture his father's heart.

"You keep your hands to yourself and we won't have any problems kid," Gwen growled back with an angry and confrontational tone to her voice that made Angel turn from observing what he could see of the crime scene and turn back to make sure that the two didn't kill each other.

"Don't make me come back there and separate you two…God if I'd know that all you two would do is bicker the whole damn time I would have never agreed to letting you come," Angel growled coldly under his breath with a very serious expression on his face as he stares the two down.

"Sorry…," Gwen mumbled with a sad frown on her face as she slipped from behind the bushes and began to amble towards the burnt out shell of the tree.

"No…Gwen wait…," Angel started to shout with an extremely frustrated look on his face before he caught himself and his shout turned out as more of a hiss, a sound that only made Gwen slump her shoulders and quicken her walk a bit.

"Nice work dad…good to see that you haven't lost your touch with the ladies," Connor whispered with an almost sinister snicker and smile on his face as he leaned in close to Angel's ear before he checked around and then headed off after Gwen.  Angel started to angrily sigh and roll his head upward before he caught the scent of gun oil against the backdrop of perfume trails that peppered the area.

"Con…," Angel started to shout in a hiss before Connor stopped dead in his tracks, followed a few seconds later by Gwen, whose body seemed to almost be glowing in the dark.

"What the fuck…," Gwen started to say with a slightly faltering tone to her voice before her voice cut out as a dart appeared from out of the darkness and found its mark in her jugular.  With eyes as wide as silver dollars Gwen slumped to the ground.

"Gwen…," Connor shouted before he had to almost bend over backwards to avoid a dart aimed his way as Angel could sense many humans closing in on them.

"Connor get down," Angel shouted in alarm as he dove back behind the line of bushes, gritting his teeth as mud smeared his shirt and three distinct sounds of darts hitting the bricks mere centimeters above his head.  In seconds Angel was back on his feet, tearing as silently as he could through the line of bushes as he could see heavily armed and hi tech goggle wearing assailants pressing their way towards him, guns drawn.  One of the unlucky assailants got a little to close to Connor and met with a knee to the gut and then the but end of his gun rammed back into his face.  The next few minutes were a blur as Angel and Connor charged towards their assailants and used the elements of surprise and chaos to their fullest.  It took Angel all of that time to make it to Gwen's side as those attacking him seemed to be trying to keep him away from her.

"Who are these guys," Connor asked with a shout as he ducked under a punch and then shattered the mans nose against a guardrail.

"No clue…but they do…remind me of someone…that I'd hoped that I'd…never have to see again…and his band of…demon hunting extremists," Angel replied with a nervous and frustrated frown on his face in between knocking one assailant after another away from him.

"The Initiative…," Connor and Angel both growled with angry expressions on their faces as they clenched their fists and pressed their attack.

*                            *                         *                     *                        *                         *

He awoke to find himself staring up into two of the most beautiful brown eyes that he had ever seen, and covered in drool.  A part of him begged to react in shock and disgust but out of the corner of his eye he could see his archangel sitting on the edge of the bed wrapped in only a towel, one that seemed to be slowly slipping lower and lower as time went on, and brushing the kinks out of her hair with a mischievous smile spread across her face and the antique ceiling fan above him softly humming along.  He debated about what to say for what seemed like an eternity before he decided that it was best to stay silent, at least for the time being.  On her own accord Hope flung herself down onto her father, resting her tiny forehead against his, staring deeply into his eyes until her vision blurred.  Barely moving the upper part of his body Wesley reached up and lightly tickled the soft bottom of Hope's right foot.  Almost instantly the giggling began, starting with the youngest Wyndam-Pryce before quickly spreading first to Wesley and then to Faith, who couldn't help herself as she dove down beside Wesley and wrapped her arms tightly around him while burying her face into the crook of his neck, delicately placing soft kisses that made him shiver.  His giggles died down first, at least until Faith noticed this and moistened her lips before she trailed her tongue from his collarbone up to his ear, initially sucking on it slightly and then nibbling the back of it.  He couldn't help himself and openly laughed at the absurdity of the situation, a move that Hope seemed to welcome with glee as his little angel rolled off towards the interior of the bed in a fit of giggling.  

"Now this is a Saturday morning…," Wesley mumbled softly with a happy smile on his face as he turned his head towards Faith and planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

"If only we didn't have like a hundred people waiting to talk to us, that giggling little angel between us and whoever on the way I'd love nothing better than to stay here in bed with you all day…," Faith returned with an equally happy smile on her face as she brushed some hair back away from her face before she leaned in and kissed Wesley.  The kiss would have gone on longer but there was a hurried knock on the door that shook all three Wyndam-Pryce's out of their peaceful moment.

"Wesley…Faith, come quickly," Giles exclaimed through the door with a very concern laden tone to his voice as he stood outside of their bedroom.

"Giles….," Faith muttered under her breath as she shook her head and rose up out of the bed, pulling her towel back tightly around her as she headed back towards the bathroom.

"Yes Giles…what is it what's wrong," Wesley asked with an unhappy frown on his face as he picked a still softly giggling Hope up off of the bed and walked to the door, slowly opening it.

"It's Gwen, Connor called just a few minutes ago with Angel's cell phone…," Giles started to say with a great deal of worry in his voice as Wesley became worried at the sight of the old watcher in such a nervous state of affairs.

"I thought that he hated those bloody things," Wesley mumbled with a sarcastic smirk on his face before he remembered the drool from earlier and hurried to wipe it off of his face.

"He does…anyway Connor said that shortly after they got to the crime scene they were attacked and Gwen was shot," Giles replied with a nervous look on his face as Wesley followed him down the hall and into the kitchen; which he found filled with Buffy trying her best to hold her breakfast down, Dawn and Spike arguing over what to eat, Willow madly typing away on her laptop, and Fred staring intently at the few family pictures that hung on the wall.

"My God…shot, is she alright…what hospital did they take her to," Wesley asked with a shocked and grim frown on his face as most of those assembled in the kitchen ignored his pointed question.

"They're not sure, she was hit with some sort of dart that knocked her out almost instantly, probably because she was struck near the jugular vein in her neck, she hasn't woken up since, and because of the nature of her attack and Angel being as he is there really was nowhere for them to take her as other than being unconscious there's as of yet nothing truly wrong with her, other than she won't wake up and it's been a few hours since the attack," Giles replied with a nervous frown on his face as the two continued their walk through the kitchen and walked out onto the deck, with Wesley mentally cursing himself for not putting more clothes on himself and Hope before walking outside.

"What if the dart was just a simple tranquilizer…that would explain her not waking up and her being knocked out almost instantly," Wesley offered up with an optimistic smile on his face as he pulled Hope close and tried his best to keep her warm with his body heat.

"That would yes…but Connor did say that the area directly surrounding the dart had started to change in color, turning from a normal peach or in Gwen's case a lightly bronzed color to a pea green and then intensely deep purple," Giles said with a very serious and dark frown on his face as he cupped his right hand under his chin and supported that with his left arm wrapped around his midsection in a thoughtful pose.

"Wesley…what the hell do you think you're doing, do you know how cold it is out there, get back inside right now," Faith shouted loudly as she interrupted the two from the doorway of the sliding door, clad in a hastily thrown on pair of Wesley's sweatpants with the drawstring tied as tightly as it would go and a two sizes to big sweatshirt on top, so big in fact that it kept falling off of her shoulder and forcing her to pull it back up.

"Faith…I…of course," Wesley stammered out with a shocked and slightly scared look on his face before he quickly hurried back inside the house with a flustered and embarrassed Giles right behind him.

"It's freezing out there, why did you take Hope out there in only her jumper, you both could have froze to death out there," Faith asked again with an angry and yet intensely worried look in her eye as she cocked her hips to one side and planted her fists on her hips, looking still very much imposing if not like a little girl playing badly matched up dress up.  

"I wasn't thinking Faith and I'm sorry, Giles and I got to talking and I just lost track of where we were…," Wesley started to reply with a humbled expression on his face before all hell broke loose in the living room.

"Move…," Angel shouted as loudly as he could without thinking as he stormed in after Connor, with a heavily smoking blanket thrown over him, with an unconscious and hurt looking Gwen in his arms.  Without a second thought Wesley handed Hope to Faith and rushed into the living room with Giles and Spike close behind.

"Who'd you piss of now Angel," Spike asked with his usual cocky smirk on his face before he saw the panicked look on Angel's face and rushed to close the blinds as Angel gently laid Gwen on the couch before violently throwing the blanket off.

"What happened," Willow asked with a shocked look on her face as she stumbled into the living room with her laptop in hand.

"We were attacked, before we could even do anything, they came out of nowhere, Gwen was hit first with this…whatever they dipped this in it must have been powerful because she was out and on the ground in a flash," Connor answered with a very grim and nearly frantic look on his face as he pulled a small metal dart out of his pocket and handed it to a grim looking Giles.

"Are you okay," Buffy asked with a worried look on her face as she came into the living room and looked back and forth between Angel and Connor.

"Fine…Gwen's not," Angel grumbled back his reply with a panicked expression on his face, his gaze never leaving Gwen's face, as her breathing had become a bit labored.  

"Do you have any idea who they were Angel," Wesley asked with a grave look of concern on his face as he knelt down beside Angel and gently took Gwen's pulse.

"I don't know, they looked an awful lot like those Initiative guys that I took out back when Buffy was still dating Riley," Angel replied with an overwhelmed frown on his face as he half turned to Wesley.

"Bastards…," Spike growled under his breath as he smashed his closed right fist into the open palm of his left hand.

"But why would Riley…or the Initiative for that matter, do something like this…attack you," Fred asked meekly with a worried and slightly aghast look on her face as she poked her head around the corner and looked down at Angel before looking up and around at everyone else.

"Riley and Angel didn't exactly part on the best of terms that night, they nearly killed each other," Buffy interjected with a serious look on her face as he crossed her arms and stepped back to stand beside Spike.

"But surely Riley wouldn't be carrying a grudge against Angel after all this time…that'd be…petty," Dawn asked with a confused look on her face as she turned back to look at Buffy and Spike.

"Petty is that ponce's middle name Nibblet," Spike joked back with a very serious and unhappy frown on his face before Buffy started to clear her throat to stop him but decided against it as a part of her agreed with him.

"Or has anyone thought that it was indeed an agent of the Initiative that was killed up in that tree and they didn't like the three of you snooping around," Faith wondered out loud with a very straightforward look of seriousness on her face as she held Hope a bit closer, using her daughter's weight to keep the sweatshirt from slipping off of her shoulder again.

"That would explain a lot, but why the use of the dart, that obviously wasn't dipped in a simple tranquilizer, why go through all of this trouble," Wesley added with a very serious and confused frown on his face as he looked up at Faith.

"With the Initiative who knows…," Buffy said with a sad and worried tone to her voice before she leaned over and laid her head on Spike's shoulder.

*                           *                        *                      *                      *                               *

"Are you sure about this…," Callie asked with a very nervous and discombobulated look on her face as she wiped away the tears that were spilling down her cheeks.

"Callie…I've never been as serious about anything in my entire life…so…what do you say…," Nick replied with an extremely nervous but forced look of calm on his face as he lifted the small box upwards towards Callie.

"I…I'm mean we've only been together for a few months…ah what the hell…yes…," Callie said softly with a worried look etched across her face before a jubilant smile flashed across her face and Nick slumped noticeably in relief before he joined her in smiling.  With nervously shaking hands Nick slowly stood up and pulled the ring from the box, slipping it onto Callie's finger before pulling her close and sharing an excited kiss.  "It's beautiful…and it fits perfectly…how did you…I didn't…," Callie stuttered out her question with a flabbergasted look on her face as she pulled away from the kiss and stared intently at the shine of the ring.

"You remember a few weeks ago when you thought that you'd lost you're favorite ring…well you didn't, I took it to a jeweler and he used it to size this one," Nick replied with a sheepish grin on his face as Callie weakly glared back at him before the two broke into a happy and relaxed laugh.

"I knew it…I knew that terrible excuse you used about finding it behind the couch wasn't what really happened," Callie joked with a fake look of anger on her face as she lightly punched Nick in the shoulder.

"Sorry…forgive me," Nick whimpered back softly with his best puppy dog look on his face as Callie did her best to keep from laughing at him.

"You're forgiven…," Callie whispered back softly through a short chuckle before she pulled Nick close and kissed him with all of the happiness that she was feeling at that moment.  As Callie and Nick slowly made their way towards the bed they failed to notice the small sounds of the floorboards creaking out in the hallway outside of Callie's front door.  Seconds later two small canisters rolled into the bed room, shooting out billows of dark smoke.  Before they could even get off of the bed both Callie and Nick passed out and lay sound asleep as they were then lifted up and loaded into the back of a moving van.

*                     *                           *                               *                     *                             *

"How is she," Cordelia asked with a true look of concern on her face as she handed Angel a mug of warm pig's blood and sat down beside him.  Unsure of exactly what to do Gwen had remained on the couch, with Faith providing an extra pillow and blanket for her to use, as Gwen's temperature had dropped suddenly a few hours after Angel and Connor had first brought her back.  Angel had stayed at her side the entire time, endlessly trying to figure out what had gone wrong and now how he would be able to help her.

"Still out…she's getting worse Cordy…it might not look like it from the outside but her pulse has quickened and she's starting to have a hard time breathing…," Angel replied with an almost emotionless look on his face before Cordelia's next question was interrupted by the phone ringing.  Angel picked the receiver up reluctantly and was surprised to hear the voice at the other end.

"Hello Angel…," The voice said with the slightest bit of mockery in the voice as Angel slowly set the mug of pig's blood down on the desk beside the phone.

"Riley…I should have known that you were behind this…," Angel growled with an angry scowl on his face, fighting the demon within to remain in control of his emotions as the expression on Cordelia's face soon mirrored his.

"I'm sorry about your friend but it was necessary to get your cooperation for what we have planned," Riley said with a calm tone to his voice as he sat in a car parked near Wesley and Faith's house, one that was well hidden in the thicket.

"I don't care what you have planned…what did you do to her," Angel demanded with a very serious and threatening tone to his voice as he clenched the phone a bit tighter and Cordelia was afraid that he was going to break it in half.

"We gave her a bit of Quikoslan demon venom, she'll remain comatose and slowly worsen over time until death takes her…that is unless you do what we say and help us with a problem that requires your…unique…talents," Riley replied with an almost bored look on his face as Sam watched on, her jaw set firm and her hands tightly clenching the wheel.  She had been against this plan of action from the beginning but Riley had smiled and reassured her that the venom wouldn't do any permanent damage as long as Gwen received the antidote in time.

"Listen you sick son of a bitch…I don't care what problem you have, you either give me the antidote to that venom right now or else…," Angel growled deeply into the phone, his voice laden with all of the malice that he could muster.

"Calm down Angelus, a temper like that will get you in trouble, I'm sure that by now you've heard of a Mr. Saburon, he contacted a couple of friends of your ally Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and asked for assistance, a Callie Freeman and Nicholas Burton, in truth Mr. Saburon is the one that started this all by casting a spell that opened the portal to another reality, bringing in a rather dangerous tribe of fire breathing reptilian demons, what we want you and your friends to do is get rid of the demons for us and close the portal before anything worse comes out, if you don't do what we say or try anything Ms. Raiden won't be the only one in trouble…," Riley said with a chipper smile on his face as he flipped through the contents of the clipboard on his lap before the conversation was abruptly halted as Angel reached his breaking point and leapt out of the chair, slipped into his game face, and hurled the phone and desk that it sat on against the wall.  

END OF CHAPTER 22


	23. Stuck Between A Rock And A Really Pissed...

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 23-CAUGHT BETWEEN A ROCK AND A PISSED OFF FIRE BREATHING REPTILLIAN DEMON**

Wesley shot out of the kitchen and into the living room like he had been fired from a cannon.  Faith had been in the middle of trying to feed Hope her lunch when Angel had received the phone call.  Gunn and Connor had been outside playing with the two newest additions to the family.  Liam and Christopher were sound asleep in one of the spare rooms with Anya and Xander silently watching them.  Fred and Willow had almost locked themselves in the computer room, both endlessly searching for anything that could be of help in treating Gwen's condition while Giles had been on his cell phone trying to get in touch with any of his local contacts.

"Angel what…happened," Wesley demanded with a look of shock and anger on his face as he scanned his gaze over the hole in his wall and then back to Angel.

"That bastard…Riley…the Initiative did it, the dart it had demon venom on it, if we don't stop an apocalypse for them and get rid of a bunch of fire breathing demons they'll let her die…her and your friends Callie and Nick," Angel answered with a very grim look on her face as he clenched his fists tightly and tried his best to fight the temptation to trash the entire house.

"Callie and Nick…but how did he…of course…," Wesley started to ask with a nervous and confused look on his face before he rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead.

"What…you know why Riley took your friends," Cordelia asked with a worried look on her face as she watched Gwen cough.

"This Riley must need them as collateral to make sure that not only Angel but the rest of us help out in defeating the demons that are at the center of this entire mess, but what I don't understand is how Riley, or the Initiative for that matter knew that Nick had anything to do with the Dringogen texts or these demons," Wesley wondered aloud with a very serious frown on his face as he began to pace around the room, his gaze going to the hole in the wall on a regular basis.

"Sorry…I'll pay for that," Angel interjected with a sheepish look on his face as he nodded towards the hole in the wall and then took a sip of blood.

"I know that you will Angel…but Wes wasn't Nick trying to decipher that appendix to the Dringogen texts, to see if he couldn't find something that would help us," Faith asked with a baleful eye cast towards Angel as she entered the room and looked up at her husband.

"Yes…he was…one of their operatives must have seen him deciphering it in the library and put two and two together…," Wesley answered with an impatient frown on his face as he walked over and sat down on the floor underneath the windows.

"And knew that they could use your friends to use as leverage against you," Cordelia said with a nervous and scared look on her face as she turned towards Angel before downing another sip of coffee.

"Well this time those Initiative goons messed with the wrong family," Dawn declared with a very indignant and serious look on her face as she walked to the center of the room and crossed her arms, letting a tuft of hair unintentionally fall over her face.

"The wrong family…," Connor asked with a confused look on his face as he looked over from his position near the doorway, eternal pout firmly in place.

"Yes…the wrong family, all of us Connor…everyone here from Buffy and I and the rest of the Scooby's from Sunnydale and you Connor and you Angel and everyone else from Los Angeles…we're a family…alright a really odd and creepy family but a family nonetheless," Dawn replied with a nervous look on her face as she searched for the right words to say to get her point across.

"That we are Nibblet…that we are…and families protect each other, right Peaches," Spike added with a soft smile on his face as he turned towards his former grandsire and slightly nodded his head.  Angel sat in stone silence for a few seconds before he looked up and saw that for the first time in a long time Spike wasn't trying to make his words out as a joke or humorous affair but being completely serious.

"Right…you're right Spike, Dawn…we are a family and as friends of Wesley and Faith's Nick and Callie are a part of the family to, now what we have to do is figure out a way to defeat those demons and also get Nick and Callie out of the Initiative's grasp without harming them…," Angel declared with a very serious look on his face as he stood up and walked around the room, looking first Spike and then Dawn in the eye.

"Maybe I should talk to Riley, see if I could get some hint as to where he was keeping them, he'll talk to me no matter how off his rocker he's gotten," Buffy offered with a worried look on her face as she walked up beside Spike and bit her bottom lip.

"Hell no pet…I'm not letting you within a mile of that…," Spike started to protest before a stern look from Buffy cut him off.

"I know that you're worried about me Spike…you to Angel, but I don't think that Riley would hurt me…at least anymore than he already did back in Sunnydale, would it make either one of you two mother hens feel better if I took Gunn and Willow with me to meet him," Buffy said with a calm but restrained look of nervousness on her face as she looked back and forth between Angel and Spike.  Both the current and former vampires silently debated the offer for a bit before both reluctantly nodded their heads, almost in unison.  "Good…now all that I have to do is try and remember any of the ways that I used to contact him…," Buffy mumbled softly with a triumphant smile on her face before Giles entered the room.

"Anything," Faith asked with a concerned look on her face as she cracked the kitchen door open a bit and kept watch on Hope, who sat quietly in her high chair.

"Unfortunately no Faith, I've had no luck at all, back in Sunnydale the Initiative wasn't that hard to find per say…if one knew what to look for that is…but here in this…city…it's like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack," Giles answered with a grim expression on his face as he slid his cell phone back into his pocket and knelt down beside Gwen.

"Don't take this the wrong way Buffy…but when I get my hands on that bastard I'm going to show him and the Initiative why the name of Angelus has been feared for two and a half centuries," Angel stated with a very determined and angry look on his face as he peered out through the blinds.

"Angel…don't forget that he's married, no matter how much of a jerk he is," Buffy whispered softly with a worried look on her face after she conveyed her intentions first to Spike with her eyes and walked over to stand beside her former lover.

"I've killed married men before Buffy, he won't be any different…," Angel mumbled under his breath so that only Buffy could hear him, although because of their slayer hearing Dawn and Faith heard also, with the latter casting a pleading look Wesley's way.

"Yes he will Angel…because you know better than to kill him…," Buffy pleaded softly with a look of fear in her eyes that Angel's anger calmed a bit at the sight.

"Besides Peaches…that's my job," Spike added with a sinister smirk on his face before Buffy wheeled around and glared strongly his way.  "Sorry…," he added with a sullen frown on his face before Wesley stood up.

"Well we won't get anything done just sitting around here and making idle threats all day, Spike and I will visit first the library and then Nick and Callie's apartments, hopefully we'll find something…," Wesley said with a positive look on his face as he walked slowly back towards the kitchen door, casting a quick glance at the worsening Gwen along the way.

"Let's pray that we do mate…let's bloody well pray that we do," Spike muttered softly with a very dark look on his face as he turned and followed Wesley out of the living room.

*                           *                            *                       *                     *                      *

"Where do you think we are," Callie asked with a terrified look in her eyes, and a tear running down her cheek, as she turned back to Nick, who gingerly touched the growing bump on the side of his head and winced in pain.  

"I don't know, the last thing that I remember was kissing you…then everything went black," Nick replied with a nervous look on his face before he saw Callie tremble a bit and rushed to her side, taking her in his arms and trying his best to allay her fears, even if he was scared himself.  From what he could see of the dimly lit room the two were in what looked like an old dowdy hotel room that had seen better days.  There were two identical beds up against one wall that looked more the home for dust mites and the like than two people. On a small table across the room there were what looked like two plates of long cold food and two cups of warm water.

"Same here…except I think that there was someone else in the room…right before everything went black, someone that threw something into the room…then there was smoke and…," Callie mumbled out softly with a confused and scared look on her face as she and Nick staggered back to their feet and looked around the room.

"You're right…there was a lot of smoke in the room before everything went black…but I didn't hear anything…," Nick wondered aloud with a concerned look on his face as he led Callie over to the table and helped her to sit down.

"Of course you didn't hear anything…it's how they work, all cloak and dagger…never taking the more direct approach," A voice from behind said with an almost amused tone to his voice, causing both Nick and Callie to jump and spin around.

"Who are you," Nick and Callie asked in unison with alarmed and defensive looks on their faces as Nick hurriedly pushed Callie behind him even though she was the better fighter of the two.

"Sorry to startle you two but your moping around was seriously cramping my style…," The man said with a bored expression on his face as he calmly adjusted his hat and looked around the room.  "Man…would you look at this place…reminds me of a few of the dumps that I've stayed in over the centuries…but they had more dust in them," The man added with an odd smirk on his face before he turned his attention back to Nick and Callie.

"Alright…whoever you are…stay where you are, don't come any closer," Callie exclaimed with a fake look of strength and anger on her face as Nick hoped that the stranger would heed her warning and stay away.

"Oh don't worry about me; I'm nobody that you need to be worried about…the name's Whistler by the way," Whistler replied with a tired smile on his face as he walked over to one of the beds and sat down, almost instantly he began to test the springs.

"Whistler…what kind of name is that…," Nick questioned softly aloud with a confused look on his face as he made sure to stay in between Callie and Whistler.

"Don't really know…but first things first, I'm just your average immortal demon sent down from on high to balance things out between good and evil, and what do you know, this time the two of you are going to help me do that…," Whistler answered with a tired yawn as he laid down on the bed and winked at Callie before instantly falling asleep, stripping either Nick or Callie from being able to ask another question.

*                         *                         *                            *                      *                     *

"You sure this is the place," Spike asked with a bored look on his face as he craned his neck to look around the doorframe without actually setting foot inside the apartment.

"I'm sure Spike, now would you please step aside," Wesley replied with a frustrated look on his face as he pushed past Spike and strode into the apartment. 

"Alright then…so how do you know these two…," Spiked asked with an inquisitive smirk on his face as he spotted the kitchen and headed towards the refrigerator.  He had it open and was rummaging through it before Wesley could answer.

"Nick and Callie are friends of mine and Faith, we met them shortly after I took the teaching job here, at first we lied to them about who we really were for their own protection, but when Dawn showed up looking for help with the Dringogen texts we told them everything, or at least enough so that they wouldn't look at us as if we were strangers," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he slowly began to look around the rest of the apartment.

"Did it work," Spike asked with a nonchalant expression on his face as he poked his head above the refrigerator door for a split second before returning to scanning the appliances shelves.

"Provided that we all live through this latest apocalypse…I honestly don't know," Wesley replied with a slightly confused and worried look on his face as he stopped searching through the apartment for a few seconds and turned back towards the kitchen.

"Hell of a way to go through life mate," Spike mused with a bored frown on his face before he found what he was looking for and grabbed a bottle of beer and began to look around for a bottle opener. 

"Agree, but it's all that we can do at the moment and…where did you get that," Wesley started to reply with an impatient sigh before he saw Spike take a long swig from the bottle of beer.

"The bloody fridge…don't worry there's still plenty left," Spike said with a confused look of annoyance on his face before a hint of something in the air caught his attention and he inhaled deeply.

"That's not the point Spike, you shouldn't have taken it in the first place, this isn't your home," Wesley declared with an angry expression on his face before he was forced to follow Spike into the bedroom.

"It's not your home either Pryce but that didn't stop you from traipsing around here like it was," Spike replied with a look of deep concentration on his face before he inhaled deeply again in an attempt to home in on the scent that he had first noticed in the living room.

"Have you always been this annoying Spike," Wesley asked with an angry look on his face before Spike got down on his hands and knees and began spelunking around under the bed.  

"Pretty much…maybe a little more so in my younger days, but right now I think that we should be talking less about my attitude and more about this…," Spike answered with a serious look on his face before he found what he was looking for and stood up, an empty gas grenade in his hand.

*                             *                         *                       *                           *                         *

"You sure that you got it right Buffy…I mean when you tried to get in touch with Riley to help Spike with his chip you had a hard time remembering how to contact him," Willow asked with a nervous smile on her face as she jammed her hands into her pockets and tried her best to not look straight at Buffy.

"I think so Will…I don't think that he'll stand me up," Buffy answered with a nervous look on her face before Gunn broke in.

"Yeah well come or not, whatever he's going to do…or not do he'd better do it soon because we've been here for over an hour already and…," Gunn interjected with a bored and frustrated look on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and looked around.  After Buffy had tried the only way that she remembered to contact Riley the trio had driven to Central Park and waited underneath one of the large trees.

"There he is," Willow exclaimed with a scared and relieved tone to her voice, prompting Gunn to reach around behind his back and double check that the knife that he had placed there earlier without Buffy or Willow's knowledge was still there.  He knew that a knife wouldn't do much good against guns and all of the gadgets that he guessed that the Initiative had at their disposal, but after listening to Angel and Spike talk about them Gunn had decided that he couldn't go into the meeting unarmed.  Buffy looked up to see Riley, in full Initiative gear, walking towards them with an annoyed and nervous looking Sam close behind.

"Buffy…," Riley said with his usual chipper smile and air about him as Sam kept averting her eyes so that Buffy could never look her straight in the eye.

"Riley…," Buffy returned the sentiment with a happy smile that she had no love for as Riley slowly nodded his head and then turned to Willow.

"Willow, nice to see you again, everything okay," Riley asked with a sincere smile on his face as Gunn kept a hand near the hilt of the knife, just in case.

"Pretty much," Was all that Willow could get out as an answer before Gunn stepped in front of her and extended his hand, the one that had been at the hilt of the knife.

"You probably don't know me but…," Gunn started to say as he and Riley shook hands before Sam looked up and cut in after softly clearing her throat.

"Charles Gunn, former leader of a ragtag band of street children in the slums of Los Angeles before joining forces with Angelus, Cordelia Chase, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce at Angel Investigations to fight the good fight," Sam stated with an emotionless tone to her voice as she clasped her hands tightly behind her back and her gaze locked onto a small leaf as it fluttered to the ground.

"Damn…guess you guys know everyone," Gunn joked with a fake smile on his face before he returned to stand beside Buffy.

"Almost…," Sam replied in a soft whisper before she turned away and watched a couple push their young child in front of them in a stroller.  Her expression of calm sagged deeply into a painful look of sadness at the sight of something that she wanted but didn't have.

"Buffy…could we maybe go somewhere a little bit…quieter, we're to out in the open here," Riley said softly with a serious frown on his face as he bent forward a bit.

"We could Riley…but we're not going to, this talk is going to happen right here out in the open, and I don't really give a damn if you like it or not," Buffy said back in reply with an unshakeable look on her face that gave Riley little doubt that she was serious about what she had said.

"Fine…so what was it that you wanted to talk to me about," Riley said with a slightly nervous look on his face as he jammed his hands into his pockets and looked straight at Buffy.  

"You've got some nerve you know that, acting like you don't already know why…I don't care what your little game is here Riley, give me the antidote to help Gwen," Buffy declared with an angry scowl on her face and her hands on her hips as Gunn half expected Buffy to slap Riley upside the head.

"Sorry Buffy but you know that I can't do that, Angel does what we want and I'll be more than happy to give him the antidote, and if he doesn't….well that's no skin off my back," Riley replied with an equally serious look on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and stared up at the sky.  

"You're one sick son of a bitch," Gunn growled with an angry scowl on his face as his hands clenched into fists as his side.

"I only carry out the orders Charles, I don't make them, tell Angel to do the job if he wants his girlfriend to live…and don't try to contact me again," Riley exclaimed with a cold tone to his voice before he turned and walked away.  Sam turned around quickly and for a second looked to be about to apologize but then snapped her mouth shut and followed after her husband.

"Well that went well…," Gunn joked with an angry expression on his face as Buffy hung her head and Willow kicked a small rock away.

END OF CHAPTER 23


	24. A Setback And That Darn Whistler

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:   I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 24-A SETBACK AND THAT DARN WHISTLER**

"That's all that you found Wes…," Faith asked with a worried look on her face as she poked the empty gas grenade with her finger, almost causing it to be knocked onto the floor.  Coming down with her first bout of morning sickness after Wesley and Spike had left Faith had been reduced to slouching at one end of the couch, attired in a pair of Wesley's old sweatpants and his old sweatshirt that she loved to wear.  She had changed from the one that was a few sizes to big for her and kept falling off of her shoulder.  She wasn't in the mood for doing anything but finding out about Nick and Callie and making sure that Wesley and Spike didn't get themselves into to much trouble.

"That's all Faith…the only reason that we have this is because the Initiative got careless…," Wesley answered with a grim look on his face as he slid down into the seat next to Faith and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close.

"May I say how much this all sucks….thank you," Dawn asked and then declared with an impatient and sad expression on her face as she looked around the room before returning her gaze to the gently swaying of the branches out of the window.

"Or they wanted us to find this, knowing full well that it alone wouldn't do us any good," Fred grumbled with a frustrated and scared look on her face before she absentmindedly pushed her glasses further up on her nose.

"Who knows maybe Buffy had better luck with Captain Cardboard," Spike interjected with an unhappy scowl on his face as he leaned his forehead up against the cool window pane.

"Let's hope so…," Xander said with an almost defeated look on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and walked into the living room, not wanting to give anyone any false hopes that their former friend would help them. 

"Somehow Xander I doubt it…Riley's not going to let Angel or us off of the hook until we take care of his little problem for him…," Faith said with a very serious look on her face as she laid her head gently onto Wesley's shoulder, looping her arms around his chest and holding on tightly.

"And even then we have no guarantee that he'll keep his word, for all we know after we defeat these demon's he'll simply give us another challenge," Wesley said with a somber look on his face as she shook his head and shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"I say again…this sucks," Dawn announced with a less than regal wave of her hand as she shook her head and kept staring out of the window.

"Something's wrong, they should have been back by now, I'm going to go and look for them," Spike started to say with an impatient and worried look on his face as he headed towards the door before Xander's words stopped him.

"She'll be back Spike, you of all people should believe in her," Xander said with an almost mocking tone to his voice as he kept from looking at Spike.  

"I do whelp…it's Mr. Initiative that I don't trust, for all we know the meeting was all a trap to get Buffy out in the open and…," Spike started to say with a look of utter earnest on his face before a relieved but still angry voice cut him off.

"No…Riley was just his usual jerk self, only telling me what we already knew, either we do this job for him or he'll let Gwen die," Buffy stated with a tired and annoyed look on her face as she slowly walked into the room and made a line straight towards Spike, finally stopping as she leaned up against the wall at his side.

"I should have went with you luv," Spike whispered softly to Buffy with a very serious and worried look on his face as he looked over at Buffy and put his arms around her and pulled her close.

"I was fine Spike, he barely touched me…besides the whole meeting only lasted like five minutes and he left," Buffy replied with a nervous and tired look on her face as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"So in other words it was a giant waste of time, exactly what Spike and I thought it'd be," Angel said with a very serious look on his face and unhappy tone to his voice as he emerged out of the kitchen, mug of warmed pig's blood in his hands.

"Well Angel I don't know if I'd say that is was a complete waste of time, we did find out something interesting," Willow said with a meager and slightly scared smile on her face as she took a step forward into the middle of the room.

"Were we at the same ice cold meeting…I didn't see anything other than Riley being an ass…," Gunn asked with a confused look on his face as the look on Buffy's face seemed to mirror the same sentiment.

"That's because you were both only looking at what Riley was doing, I meanwhile checked out Sam…not like that…geez sometimes you guys get so…anyway what I'm trying to say is that while Riley is pushing all of this I don't think that Sam is behind this a hundred and ten percent like he wanted us to believe, she seemed to be there more because she's his wife rather than…," Willow answered with a very serious and deep in thought look on her face as she slowly began to pace around the room.

"She did seem to not want to look at me the whole time; I just thought that she didn't like me very much," Buffy mumbled with a confused and somewhat downtrodden frown on her face as she looked first to Willow and then back to Spike.

"Perhaps all is not well in the Finn household," Giles wondered aloud with an eyebrow cocked oddly as he began to tap his lips lightly with the tip of his index finger.

"Then perhaps tonight I should pay the lady of the house a visit…," Angel said softly with the beginnings of a plan in his mind as he let a sly smile slip onto his face momentarily before he turned around and walked back into the kitchen.

*                      *                           *                               *                   *                          *

"Should we wake him up," Callie whispered softly with a confused and scared look on her face as she kept herself behind the table.

"I don't know…but maybe we should…I mean if he truly wants to help us get out of here then…," Nick started to reply in short and abbreviated sentences before a snort from a dreaming Whistler forced him to clam up.

"He doesn't look very dangerous…I'm going to wake him up," Callie added with a nervous look on her face as she slowly and cautiously made her way over to Whistler and gently tapped him in the shoulder.

"Unless you're an incredibly beautiful woman named something like Tiffany or some such I'm not interested, thank you…goodbye now," Whistler said softly in his sleep with an odd smile on his face before he turned over onto his side, away from Nick and Callie.

"Alright I don't care who or what you are you get your ass up this instant before I kick it," Callie shouted with an angry scowl on her face as she leaned over and shoved Whistler off of the edge of the be as hard as she could.

"Callie…what do you," Nick started to say with a worried and surprised look on his face as he rushed to Callie's side and began pulling her back away from the bed but the two stopped when Whistler sat up and looked around lazily.

"You know my dear that wasn't very nice, but since I'm here to help make sure that the two of you live I won't kill you…sorry…little bit to extreme with the imagery…," Whistler said with a bored look on his face as he first looked to Callie and then back towards the bed.

"N…no, it's just that you said that you'd help us and then you fell asleep, can you help us or not," Callie stuttered out with a nervous look on her face before she calmed down and crossed her arms defiantly, an act that Nick copied.

"And if you can't could you just leave then," Nick added with a concerned look on his face as he stepped in front of Callie.

"Whoa fella…I give…I will help you get out of here but it isn't time yet, unfortunately there are still a few things that have to be worked out first that neither you nor I can do anything about, when all of that is settled I'll bust you two out of here," Whistler said with a tired yawn as he stood up and smoothed out his jacket before a trio of Initiative soldiers stormed into the room.  Nick started to turn around to tell Whistler to run but found that the odd demon had vanished.

*                       *                                   *                      *                         *                       *

Angel waited until after it was dark to slip out of the house, he had made a deal with Spike to keep Buffy busy while he did it.  Since it was Saturday night Faith didn't have to do her radio show and so she had ordered everyone out of their house as night fell, saying that she didn't feel to good and that the assembled group couldn't do anything more for that night so that they should all get a good night's sleep.  What she didn't tell anyone was that in actuality she felt fine and only wanted everyone gone so that she could spend a quiet night alone with Wesley and Hope without any interruptions.  Angel had told her and Wesley of his plans so that if anyone asked they could say that the two and a half century old vampire was out looking for the reptilian demons that Riley had talked about.  Giles had taken Gwen back with him and had used all of the money that he found in her possession to buy her a hotel room for the next several days, with everyone taking alternating shifts to stay at her side.  Spike ended up taking Buffy and Dawn out for the night to see a show, with the promise that he wouldn't rip on the show until at least the next day.

"Leaving so soon," Wesley asked Angel softly with a concerned look on his face as he watched the last car pull slowly out of their driveway.

"Don't be cute Wesley, I'm going to…forget it you know where I'm going and why, just don't tell anyone okay…and have fun with Faith tonight…ever since we got here she's been a bit out of it," Angel replied with a nervous look on his face as he and Wesley continued their walk towards the barn.

"I will Angel, it'll be good to have a little quiet time with her and Hope, we haven't had a chance to do this for a few weeks now and I know that Faith always loved it…now on another topic I feel that I should tell you that I recently met an old friend of yours, one that you probably never expected to ever see again," Wesley said with an almost nostalgic smile on his face at first before his countenance became drawn and more serious as he opened the barn door for Angel.

"An old friend…Wesley Spike's my oldest friend and even calling ourselves friends at times is pretty weak…," Angel questioned with a slightly confused look on his face as he walked over to where Wesley and Faith kept their weapons and picked up a sturdy sword.

"I meant an old friend from Sunnydale Angel, a demon named Whistler…gave me a quick history lesson about you…even though I never asked for it, before he told me to be ready for the hell that was to come and to keep my friends and family close…come to think of it though he never really did say how things would turn out, he was a bit cryptic with his explanations," Wesley replied with a nervous look on his face as he turned and looked back towards the house, silently watching Faith try her best to keep their two puppies away from Hope in her playpen.

"Yeah that sounds like Whistler alright, cryptic and annoying…," Angel said with a joking smile on his face before he started to walk past Wesley, sword in hand.  "Oh…one more thing…can I…," Angel started to ask with a nervous look on his face before Wesley held a hand up and chuckled.

"Just bring it back in one piece alright, I've got another child on the way and I'm going to need it…," Wesley replied with a joking smile on his face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the SUV's keys and tossed them to Angel.

"Right, tell Giles to call me instantly if there's any change with Gwen," Angel said with a hesitant look on his face before Wesley nodded his head and watched Angel run towards the garage.  As he left their house Angel waved a goodbye to Faith and took off towards New York City.  He didn't really exactly know where he was going but had a general idea as after Buffy and the others had come back from their meeting with Riley and Sam Angel had taken great pains to remember exactly how they smelled, to see if anything would later give him a clue as to where the Initiative was set up at.  From Buffy he had caught the scent of a kind of fish that was only shipped from one particular shipping yard.  He decided to make that shipping yard his first stop of the night.

*                      *                            *                           *                         *                              *

Faith reluctantly stepped out of the steaming hot shower and grabbed for the towel.  One that she discovered was no longer on the rail that she had left it on.  Just as she was about to openly question the absence of the towel she turned to see Wesley standing in the doorway of the bathroom with a tired smile on his face and the towel draped over his shoulder.

"Are you going to give me the towel or do you expect me to air-dry," Faith asked softly with a tone to her voice of her long past days of toying with people.  

"Haven't decided yet…," Wesley replied softly with a tired yawn as he walked into the bathroom and gently brushed some hair off of Faith's face.

"Well decide quickly…it's freezing out here…," Faith grumbled with a fake pout of anger on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest and lightly glared up at Wesley, who took the scene in and laughed softly.

"I know…but it's just so much fun to watch you squirm," Wesley said with a kind smile on his face before he took the towel and wrapped it around Faith, finally letting her tie it off before he grabbed another towel for her hair.

"Dumbass…," Faith added coldly at first with an angry scowl on her before she couldn't keep the look up and broke down laughing.

"Guess I haven't gotten rid of all of the old you yet have I…," Wesley wondered a loud softly as he handed Faith her second towel.

"No Wesley you haven't, and you know what…you never will, but I love you anyway," Faith answered softly with a sly smile on her face before she pulled Wesley close and placed a soft kiss on his lips.  She started to pull away slowly but stopped when Wesley returned the gesture and pulled her back into a much more meaningful kiss as he looped both arms around her back and picked her up as their kiss deepened.  In the back of her mind Faith began to think of letting her towel drop to the floor and ripping Wesley's clothes off before pulling him into the shower and making passionate love to him but stopped when she heard Hope giggling.  Wesley let go of her enough so that she could look down over his left shoulder.  Hope sat just outside of the doorway, a bottle of lotion in her hands, as she was squirting it all over the floor and giggling at the result.  "Hope," Faith shouted with such an angry and alarmed look on her face that Wesley almost dropped her before he gently set her down and turned to see what was going on while still having one arm around Faith and her feet barely touching the ground.

"Hope," Wesley exclaimed with a shocked look on his face before he fully let go of Faith and turned to get a washcloth wet to wipe up the lotion while Faith rushed into the bedroom.  Faith quickly took the bottle of lotion away from Hope and in her haste stripped off her towel and used it to begin to wipe up the lotion before letting Wesley continue cleaning while she laid Hope down onto the bed.

"Hope…that was wrong…understand," Faith said with a very serious look on her face as she knelt down on the bed beside Hope and tapped her nose lightly.

"I don't think she understands luv, I probably knocked the bottle off of the dresser as I walked by and she picked it up," Wesley said with a slightly embarrassed look on his face as he stood up and looked down at what was left of the mess before he went to wash the washcloth out so that he could reuse it.

"You're probably right Wes, but still she needs to know that she's not supposed to do something like that," Faith called out with a slightly flustered look on her face as she half turned back to look at Wesley.

"She knows enough Faith, let's just get ready and then watch the movie like we planned, knowing Angel and the others we'll probably be pretty busy for awhile and won't get a chance like this again," Wesley said with a sincere look on his face as he tossed her the rinsed out washcloth and then started to dig through her underwear drawer for something for her to wear.

"I know…but she's just been a little terror lately, I don't want to take any chances and have her end up like me later in life," Faith said softly, her voice thickly laden with guilt, as she wiped up the rest of the lotion off of the floor and headed for the bathroom.

"We won't let that happen Faith, besides in the end you didn't turn out so bad," Wesley shouted over the running water as he found what he was looking for and shut the drawer.

"But that was only because I had friends like B and Angel to help me see that what I was doing was wrong and then someone like you to show me what love was truly about," Faith said with a sad frown on her face as she sulked back out of the bathroom with a towel in her hands and began to finish cleaning up the mess.

"Here I'll do that, you should get dressed," Wesley started to say with a nervous look on his face as he walked over and made Faith stand up before handing her the bra and panties that he had picked out for her.

"Thanks…," Faith said softly with more of a congratulatory look in her eyes than tone to her voice as she handed him the towel.

"But don't you see Faith, now that Angel and Buffy and the others know about Hope and what we've built for ourselves here like it or not Hope will never be alone, she'll always have a family that will love her no matter what," Wesley said with a reassuring tone to his voice as he knelt down on the floor and began to dry up the area that Faith had cleaned up.

"I just hope that no one that knew me from my early days ever meets her and gets the wrong idea about her, I'd kill anyone that tried to hurt her like…," Faith started to say with a very serious and almost threatening look on her face and tone to her voice before tears started to spill down her cheeks and she couldn't continue, finally having to sit down on the bed and try not to sob.

"Faith…," Wesley said softly with a very concerned look on his face as he quickly got up and hurried over to the bed taking Faith in his arms and laying her head on his shoulder.  After almost six months together Faith had finally opened up to him about her early years and all of the pain and demons that she had been keeping locked up inside.  Through trial and error he had helped her to exorcise many of her demons and swore to be there for her to help her with the rest of them.  In fact as he remembered those times during one of those nights was when Faith had told him that she loved him for the first time.  "No one will ever hurt  you again Faith…or Hope, if they want to then they'll have to do it over my dead body, and also I believe Angel's, Spike's, Gunn's, Giles'…," Wesley whispered softly to Faith as her tears slackened off and she looked up to him and wiped away a tear.

"Promise," Faith asked with a slightly better look in her eyes that Wesley had seen just a few seconds before.

"Promise, now get ready because I'm not going to wait to long to start the movie, and you know how Hope loves it when you hold her," Wesley said with a hopeful smile on his face before he placed a gentle kiss on Faith's forehead and then picked Hope up and walked out of the bedroom.  As she watched him leave Faith slipped into the old comfortable bra and pair of panties that Wesley had picked out and pulled on the new pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt that Wesley had bought for her only a few days earlier and walked into the living room, her hair still wet from the shower.  Wesley pulled her close and handed Hope to her before he tucked the blanket back in around them and pushed play on the remote to start the movie.  The Wyndam-Pryce family stayed in that position, Faith in Wesley's arms and Hope in Faith's with a warm blanket tightly wrapped around them, for the rest of the night and only woke up the next morning when Angel walked into the living room with a nervous Sam at his side.

END OF CHAPTER 24


	25. Okay I Won't Kill Your HusbandYet

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 25-OKAY, I WON'T KILL YOUR HUSBAND-YET**

Angel pulled the SUV up to a stop in the alley between two empty warehouses a couple of blocks away from the wharf where he was going to investigate.  With the Initiative being as spooky as they were he really didn't want to just go barging in with both guns blazing.  He decided that it was best to try to sneak around and see if he could catch someone important in a time of momentary weakness and then kidnap them and interrogate them somewhere.  Ever since he had first heard Buffy talk about the Initiative and after meeting Riley Angel had wondered just how tough its soldiers were and if his old methods of persuasion would work.  He didn't admit it openly but he knew that a small part of that wonderment was Angelus trying to worm his way out.  Angel stuck to the shadows and made his way towards the warehouse that he guessed that Riley had set up his headquarters in.  He crouched down behind some empty boxes and an old fishing net and waited for an opportunity.  To his determent however he was found out first as he felt the presence of someone behind him.  Whirling around on his toes Angel gracefully dodged a bullet and swept his attackers legs out from under him.  The Initiative soldier went down hard onto his back before growling in pain and rolling out of the way of Angel's first attempt to grab him.  Angel growled in anger as he leapt to his feet and waited for the Initiative soldier to attack. The soldier leapt to his feet and snapped out a similar baton to the one that Riley had used against him years earlier before taking a well aimed swing at him, catching Angel on the left side of his chin. 

Angel took a couple of staggered steps backwards before he regained his footing and was ready for the soldiers next attack, blocking it with one hand before he landed a punch to the soldiers stomach, luckily knocking the wind out of him.  But before Angel could take advantage of the situation another soldier came around the corner and spotted Angel.  Rather than spoil any chance that he had at a surprise infiltration Angel used the first soldier as a springboard and tackled the next soldier just as he fumbled with his radio.  In the scuffle that followed Angel fought against the Initiative soldier for a bit before he caught movement out of the corner of his eye behind him.  In a swift move he rolled the Initiative soldier over and grabbed one of his guns that had a silencer on it.  Just as he did so the first soldier that he had attacked squeezed the trigger of his gun because he thought that he had a good shot, instead Angel leaned just enough to one side to avoid the bullets.  Unfortunately in his haste Angel didn't calculate where his movement would place the first soldier that he had begun fighting.  With a look of shock on his face Angel took in the sight of that soldier being riddled with bullets.

*                    *                         *                               *                           *                      *

After they had left Wesley and Faith's house Spike had been good on his word and taken Buffy and Dawn to see a show and held his tongue throughout most of it, even though a couple of times he had been forced to bite his tongue.  They had let Dawn pick the show and even though she had picked a good one even Buffy had been checking her watch every few seconds near the end with a pleading look on her face as she looked to Spike.  After the show the three had driven around until they found a small diner that was still open and went inside.

"You want something luv…Bit," Spike asked softly with a tired look on his face as he guided Buffy and Dawn over to the first open booth that he saw.

"Uh…just water for me thanks, my stomach's acting up again," Buffy replied with a slightly queasy look on her face as she accepted the seat and slid into the booth with Spike soon behind.

"You're going to regret that offer Spike, I'm starving," Dawn said with a mischievous smile on her face and glint in her eye as she crossed her arms in front of her on the table and leaned forward.

"Hey kiddo…elbows off the table…," Buffy started to say with a very serious and threatening scowl on her face before she blanched and smiled awkwardly.

"Yes mom…," Dawn joked with a daring smile on her face as she looked first to Spike, who had to clench his jaw shut tightly to keep from laughing at the look on his angel's face, and then to Buffy, whose face flushed red before she closed her mouth tightly to fight a fit of giggle's that tried to come out.

"So I wonder what's good here…maybe the special of the…," Spike started to say with a bored look on his face before the window that they were sitting beside shattered loudly, showering Spike, Buffy, and Dawn with thousands of shards of glass.  "Buffy," Spike shouted with an angry and worried tone to his exclamation as he did his best to cover her with his body as the shower of glass reigned down on them.  Dawn screamed in shock and dove under the table while Buffy could only attempt to cover her head with her hands.  When the shower of glass ceased Spike hazarded a glance out of the window.  The sight that befell him caused his heart to skip a beat as he then quickly pulled Buffy underneath the table with him.

"What's going on," Dawn shouted her question with a slightly panicked look on her face as she scooted over a bit so that Buffy and Spike could sit down beside her.

"Vampires…a whole bloody gang of them I think, and they don't look like they're interested talking about this over a nice cup of coffee," Spike replied with a very serious and concerned look on his face as he started to move out from under the table before he had to pull his leg back as one of the terrified waitresses rushed by and spilled the contents of the tray that she had been carrying.

"But why did they…," Buffy started to ask before one of the vampires interrupted as he took a step forward away from the rest of his brethren.

"Spike…we know that you're in there, get your ass out here before we come in after you," The vampire shouted with an angry and hateful scowl on his face before the other vampires cheered their leader.

"Bloody hell…thought he'd been staked in thirty four," Spike mumbled with a slightly sarcastic and frustrated scowl on his face as he slipped out from underneath the table.

"Spike no…wait, what's going on here," Buffy demanded with a very serious look on her face as she grabbed the collar of Spike's shirt and made him look at her.

"It's that bloody fool Depp…," Spike replied with a critical scowl on his face as he gently laid his hand overtop of Buffy's.

"Johnny…," Dawn started to ask with a joking smirk on her face before an icy glare from Spike stopped her.

"No not the actor, Depp's a vampire that I did business with here in New York back in the nineteen thirties, nothing big bud we had it better than everyone else…," Spike added with a combative look on his face as Buffy had to tighten her grip on his collar to keep him from bolting out into the fight.

"So you're old friends fine, but what about the window and the threatening," Dawn asked with a nervous look on her face as she slowly started to slink her way back up to the seat of the book, not minding the worried glare that Buffy cast her way.

"Skipped out of town before I paid him back the debt that I owed him…heard he was sore about it but I never thought that he'd go this far," Spike answered quickly with an angry frown on his face as he peeked his head up over the sill of the window to look out into the street but had to duck down quickly as a flaming tired flew into the diner and just missed the top of Spike's head by a few centimeters.

"Why am I not surprised by this revelation," Buffy groaned with an annoyed look on her face before one of the vampires kicked the door of the diner in off of its hinges and turned towards the cowering waitresses and customers with an eager grin on his face.

"Hmm…tasty…," The vampire said with a delighted smile on his face as he licked his lips and slipped into full game face before he took a step towards the nearest customer, a frightened six year old girl, who huddled closely to her mother with tears streaming down her cheek.

"Don't you know that you're supposed to watch what you eat, the food in here is nothing but grease and gristle," Spike ad-libbed with his usual air of arrogance as he leapt from beneath the table and grabbed the vampire by the arm and spun him away from the girl.

"Who the fuck…Spike," The vampire started to shout with an angry look on his face as he barred his teeth before he saw who it was that had stopped him and growled Spike's name in seething anger.

"Nice to see that Depp at least has someone around him that has more than two brain cells," Spike joked with an amused smirk on his face before the vampire became enraged and leapt at him.

"To slow," Buffy exclaimed with a frustrated frown on her face as she drove the point of the stake home into the vampire's heart and he exploded into a cloud of dust.  

"Thanks luv," Spike said with an excited smile on his face before Buffy bumped him out of the way and dusted the next vampire to enter the diner.

"Thank me after we live through this Spike," Buffy said with a very serious look on her face as she glared over at Spike for a few seconds before throwing her coat off and setting her feet.  

"Would you two stop arguing…we do have more important matters to attend to…," Dawn exclaimed with a frustrated scowl on her face as she grabbed a mop handle on her way to stand beside Buffy.

"Come out and face me Spike," Depp shouted with an arrogant smile on his face as he took a crowbar from one of his underlings and tapped the end against his flat palm.

"Really original mate…what's next, we got you surrounded," Spike shouted out with a smile of pure glee on his face as he was almost daring the vampires outside to storm the diner.  Depp started to growl something back before he shrugged his shoulders and waved his entire force forward into the diner.  Acting impulsively Spike leapt at the first vampires to enter the diner, an act that brought out an angry grunt from Buffy before she ducked under the punch of one of the next vampires and smashed her elbow into his face, smiling gleefully at the sound of bone breaking.  Dawn lunged forward and jabbed the end of the mop handle first through the stomach of one vampire and then through the heart of another.  

"This is fun…," Dawn joked with a jubilant smile on her face before a vampire took her by surprise and his weight forced the two to the ground.

"Dawn," Buffy shouted in shock and alarm before she leveled a side kick to the stomach of the vampire directly in front of her and then turned to help Dawn.  No sooner had she turned to help Dawn and started to bend over then another vampire leapt onto her back and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms down at her sides.  "Dawn…Spike…," Buffy growled with an angry frown on her face as she tried her best to break free from the vampire's grasp.  Sensing that she didn't have much time left Buffy took a sudden step back and slammed her attacker straight back into the edge of the counter.  She continued to ram the hapless vampire into the counter until she heard his spine snap in two and his arms drop off.  By that time Dawn had recovered enough to ram her knee into the vampires chin, causing him to instantly stop attacking her and grab his jaw.  

"Get off me," Dawn shouted with an angry scowl on her face as she did her best to fling the vampire off of her and get back to her feet.  During that time Spike had managed to get himself mobbed by not three but four vampires, each intent on ending his life.  He kicked and scratched against the quartet as they slammed him through the wall, coating them all in dust and grime.

*                       *                          *                             *                          *                      *

Not waiting for the Initiative soldier to have the time to reload Angel flung the dead soldier off of him before he leapt back to his feet and struck, snapping the but end of the rifle first into the soldiers stomach and then nose. The Initiative soldier dropped the gun instantly and screamed as he clutched his nose and tried to stop the torrent of blood rushing out of it.  Angel smirked silently before he spun around on his heel and knocked the guard unconscious with a hard blow to the back of the head.  Angel took a few steps back towards the alley but stopped when he heard footsteps approaching.  "Whoever you are show yourself right now," Angel shouted with a very serious look on his face as he tensed up and waited for the attack to come.

"Nice effort there kid, I have to admit, you scared me a bit," An oddly smiling Whistler joked as he slowly stepped out into the dim light and adjusted his hat.

"What are you…," Angel started to ask with an angry scowl on his face before the next shift came to relieve the two guards that Angel had fought.

*                           *                       *                        *                      *                         *

"Do you think he saw us," Anya asked with an excited smile on her face as she pulled Xander back into an alley and pressed herself up against the wall.

"Who saw who…," Xander asked with a completely oblivious look on his face as Anya did her best to push him up tight against the wall at her side.

"Mr. Saburon, that guy that Wesley said that Nick and Callie had talked with about the problems in his shop," Anya replied with a caught up in the act look of exhilaration on her face as she took a chance and poked her head out around the corner.

"And why exactly are we following him again, when we're supposed to be…," Xander pondered aloud with a confused and frustrated frown on his face before Anya placed a nervous finger on his lips.  

  
"We're following him because he's going to lead us to Nick and Callie…," Anya answered with a frustrated expression on her face as she lightly glared back at Xander.

"And just how pray tell do you know that An…," Xander asked softly as he pushed Anya's arm aside and stepped away from the wall.

"How…ooh I know the shifty look that he gave earlier before he crossed the street…and then how he yelled at that bike messenger that almost hit him…and need I say any more than when he went into the pet store and bought a bunny…if that alone doesn't prove that he's a spawn of Satan then well…nothing will," Anya answered in earnest as she pleaded her case before scrunching up her face in disgust at the mention of bunnies.

"Have you stopped and thought about the possibility that the rabbit is for a friend of his…and look, we just lost him," Xander asked with a bored look on his face as he poked his head around the corner and then shrugged his shoulders.

"What…damn…c'mon," Anya exclaimed with a frustrated and almost panic-stricken expression on her face as he jumped out of the alley and looked all around before she grabbed Xander's hand and pulled him along after her as she tore through the crowd.

*                        *                       *                     *                           *                             *

Angel barely had time to react before the next shift showed up.  The closest guard fumbled to turn the safety off on his weapon and Angel saw his chance and took it.  Unfortunately for Angel the other guard didn't have the same problem, and squeezed the trigger on his gun, spurting off a round or two of bullets.  Angel felt like a palette of bricks was dropped straight onto his chest.  Sure he had been shot before, more times than he cared to remember.  But this time was different; leave it to the Initiative to use special bullets that were designed to not pass through someone's body that had been hit.  Angel gasped in anger and pain and soon was curled up in the fetal position on the ground clutching his chest.

"Johnson, get on the comm. and…," One of the guards started to say before being abruptly stopped by a well placed strike to his throat.  The guard instantly grabbed his throat and dropped to his knees, opening himself up to a roundhouse kick that left him unconscious as he slumped forward.  

"Dad," Connor shouted in alarm as he left the side of the unconscious guard and rushed to Angel's side.

"C…Connor…," Angel grunted out with a very pained look on his face as he clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth against the pain.

"How bad," Connor asked with a worried look on his face as he pulled Angel up to a seated position and didn't shy away when Angel reached out a bloodstained hand and clamped it down on his shoulder, squeezing almost hard enough to shatter the bone, muscle, and cartilage underneath.

"I'll be…fine…just get me up," Angel replied with a painful wince spread across his face before he tried to get to his feet, with Connor having to help him in the end.

"Did you plan on getting shot or do you owe me one," Connor asked with a sarcastic smirk on his face as he helped Angel stagger a few steps before leaning him back up against one of the buildings.

"I'm going to have to owe you one son, but I can't continue like this, help me back to Wesley's SUV, he's going to just love trying to get the blood out but it can't be helped," Angel answered with a frustrated and angry scowl on his face as Connor helped him towards the SUV.

"Stop where you are…," An angry voice from behind shouted as both Angel and Connor caught the low click of a bullet being loaded into the chamber of a gun.

"Or what…you'll shoot me again," Angel asked in mock jest as he fully put all of his weight back onto his own legs, and even though every movement wracked his body in spasms of pain, turned around and tried to not let it show how badly he was hurt.

"No…stop where you are right now or else someone else will see you and then we'll never have the chance to talk," Sam replied with a serious and very nervous look on her face even though she tried her best to hide her feelings.

"Who are you," Connor asked with a great amount of disbelief in his voice as he positioned himself in between Sam and Angel.

"My name is Samantha Finn, Riley is my husband…," Sam started to say with a hesitant expression on her face as she kept her finger on the trigger before both Angel and Connor looked about ready to attack her and she stopped.

"That bastard…," Angel growled with a very angry scowl on his face as he took a threatening step forward and clenched a fist as the bullet wounds screamed at the effort.

"Is going about things all wrong, and I can't stay silent any longer and let it continue," Sam said with a very serious and straightforward look on her face as she slowly lowered her gun.

"You expect us to believe that…," Connor started to declare with a very angry grimace on his face before Sam held a hand up and smiled.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you believe me right now Connor, but if we agree to call a truce between us I can get you the antidote…today…to the poison that's killing your girlfriend, without Riley or the Initiative knowing," Sam replied with an equally serious frown on her face as she put her gun back in its holster and crossed her arms, awaiting Angel's answer.

"If you're lying you won't live through the night," Angel stated with a very serious and threatening scowl on his face as beside him Connor couldn't believe his ears.

"I'd expect nothing less from the mighty Angelus, but we should go, another patrol should be coming soon and you need some help," Sam agreed with an almost odd smile on her face before she hurried forward to help Connor get Angel back to the SUV. 

END OF CHAPTER 25


	26. Playing Spy And Not A Good Way To Wake U...

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Callie, Nick, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 26-PLAYING SPY AND ****NOT A GOOD WAY**** TO WAKE UP**

Spike charged back through the wall with a very combative shout before Buffy could go to his aid.  Dawn had resorted to using the large malt glasses as weapons, wielding them as blunt objects to be smashed into the side of the head or into some other sensitive area.  Buffy had tossed a couple of vampires over the counter and slammed them down into the fryers, laughing as they howled in pain and tore back out of the diner.  

"This is getting us nowhere," Dawn shouted with an annoyed frown on her face as the vampires seemed to not be feeling the effects of Dawn's weapon of choice any longer.

"Won't argue with that Bit, but it's not like we have a lot of options," Spike shouted back with a nervous frown on his face as he smashed a chair over the back of another of the vampires.  Buffy started to say something but stopped when two vampires grabbed her from behind and threw her through a door into the back of the diner.  "Buffy," Spike exclaimed with an exasperated look of worry and panic on his face as he snapped his head around and caught sight of Buffy flying through the door.  Dawn hadn't seen Buffy go crashing through the door but had heard it and that coupled with Spike's sudden shout alerted her to what was going on around her.  "Dawn," Spike shouted with an alarmed tone to his voice as he grabbed her collar and pulled hard as the two tore back into the back of the diner.

*                           *                              *                         *                     *                         *

"What's he doing now," Anya asked with a nervous look on her face as she kept her head down behind the overly large novelty menu.

"The same thing that he was doing five minutes ago An…eating, which is something that we should think about doing, I'm starving…," Xander grumbled back his reply with a bored look on his face as he laid his chin down onto his crossed arms on the table in front of him.

"Xander…how can you think of food at a time like this, we're tracking a dangerous fugitive through the city and all that you can think about is something to fill your stomach…," Anya nearly shouted back with an annoyed scowl on her face as she rolled her eyes a bit before elbowing Xander in the shoulder.

"I hardly think that he's a dangerous fugitive An…he's just an old man that owns a magic shop, and can I help it if I get hungry after not eating for almost a full twenty four hours…you didn't even let me eat any lunch," Xander pleaded back with a sad pout on his face as he pushed the salt shaker forward a bit with his index finger.

"He has something to do with the kidnapping of Wesley and Faith's two friends, I just know it, and it was your fault that you didn't eat lunch," Anya quick replied with a nervous look on her face as she lifted her head up and took a quick peek over the top of her menu at Mr. Saburon.  

*                     *                          *                                *                       *                         *

Hinging on her slayer senses Faith was the first to awaken that next morning, sensing that there was someone else in the house.  Her eyes flew open and she snapped her head back and up, great for a slayer in defense of her home and loved ones, but terrible luck for Wesley.  Unintentionally Faith had snapped her head up to the wrong side and cracked Wesley hard in the forehead, immediately waking him up.

"Bloody…," Wesley growled with a very painful scowl on his face as his eyes shot open and he brought a hand to his forehead as Faith blanched in regret and hunched her shoulders a bit.

"Sorry…," Faith mumbled softly with a truly regretful tone to her voice before she slowly slipped out of Wesley's arms and pulled Hope, who had yet to fully wake up, more tightly into her arms.

"Easy…Faith, it's just me…or at least what's left of me," Angel replied with a sheepish grin on his face as Sam helped him over to the first chair that they came to before she stood back up and looked nervously around the room.

"You…have a really nice house," Sam said with a transparently nervous look on her face as he voice faltered a bit and she began to fidget somewhat with her hands.

"Who's this…," Faith asked with a deadly serious look on her face as she turned away from Sam and took a step back to keep as much distance between Hope and Sam.

"Hi…I'm Sam…Sam Finn…Riley Finn's wife…," Sam replied softly as she tried to put on her best and least threatening smile, one that had served her well years earlier when she had been introduced to another slayer and her friends and family.  

"What…Faith take Hope into the kitchen and…," Wesley started to question with a very concerned look on his face, and one hand on his forehead, as he took a step forward and towards Sam.

"Stop…Wesley…," Angel exclaimed as loudly as he could before a fit of coughing overtook him and he doubled over in pain.

"Angel…you…," Wesley started to say with a very angry scowl on his face as he balled his hands up into fists after seeing the front of Angel's shirt that was coated in blood.

"I'm fine…she's not our enemy," Angel interjected with a very serious look on his face as he tried to stand to further emphasize his point but winced in pain sharply before collapsing back into his chair.

"Says the vampire with a torso that looks like Swiss cheese…why should we," Faith joked with her sarcastic smirk of old on her face as she cocked her head to one side and held Hope close.  

"He fought with a few guards before I could get to him…one of them got off a few shots…," Sam said with a concerned and slightly less nervous look on her face as she took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"A few shots…more like the entire bloody clip, Faith get the first aid kit from under the sink and bring some water and bandages in here," Wesley ordered with an authoritative tone to his voice as he walked over and stood beside Faith.

"Why should I…you know what…fine…I'll do it…but only because I don't want Angel to bleed all over the rug," Faith said with a restrained look of anger on her face before she handed Hope over to Wesley and disappeared into the kitchen, but not before giving the evil eye to Sam as she went.

"May I ask what you were doing by the docks…," Wesley asked with a serious look on his face as he walked over and sat Hope down in her small playpen.  

"Finding them…," Angel replied with a pained grimace on his face as he gingerly slipped his coat off and was careful to keep the side with blood on it off of the floor.

*                      *                              *                    *                      *                              *

"Are they still back there," Buffy asked with a tense frown on her face as she hunched down in her seat and turned to Spike.  After tearing out of the diner Spike had flagged down a bus.  They had slumped down into their seats far in the back, hoping that they'd be able to come back later and pick up the rental car that they had left in front of the diner.

"I'm not sure…I don't see them but that doesn't mean anything," Spike replied with a grim look on his face as he continued to gaze out through the bus's dirty back window.

"What do we do now," Dawn asked with a worried look on her face as she risked a quick peek over the back of the seat before sighing in relief as just as Spike had said she didn't see anyone.  

"Now we get back to the hotel and lock the door, you can stay with us tonight Dawn, I'm not going to let you try to go back to the dorm's with Depp and his goons out there hunting us down," Buffy replied with a nervous look on her face as Spike could tell from the look in her eyes that she was trying to come up with an award winning plan to deal with their problem.

"He's not after you pet…he's after me…," Spike said with a slightly sarcastic smirk on his face as he turned around and sat down in the seat beside Buffy.

"Same thing William, they want you so they'll use Dawn and I to do it…if they don't just kill us first," Buffy mumbled softly with a very serious tone to her voice as she laid her head on Spike's shoulder and sighed deeply.

"I'll never let that happen luv…they try anything and I'll stake em nice and proper," Spike added with a deadly serious tone to his voice as he moved Buffy's head off of his shoulder just long enough to loop an arm around her waist and pull her close.

*                              *                       *                   *                     *                            *

"What do you think…should we believe her story," Wesley asked softly as he and Faith sat in the kitchen with Hope in her high chair while in the living room Angel was doing his best to keep from bleeding and bemoaning his ruined shirt.

"I don't know, it seemed sincere…but I just have a funny feeling that she's not telling us everything, and I'm seriously not liking how Angel seems to be trusting her," Faith answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders before the microwave beeped and she rose to get their mugs out.

"He's trusting her because she says that she can give us the antidote that'll help Gwen, but aside from that I think that…thank you…that once again the rules have been changed, Riley isn't going to be to happy when he learns of what Sam is doing," Wesley added with a thoughtful look of concern on his face as he accepted the mug that Faith handed him and dipped his teabag into the steaming hot water.

"Hopefully he won't figure it out till at least lunchtime, because we're nowhere near prepared for a fight right now, we'd be easy pickings," Faith guessed with a serious look on her face as she dipped her own teabag into her mug and pushed a few soggy Cheerios a little closer to Hope.   

"Let's hope that it doesn't come to that honey…right now though we need to move fast, once Riley figures out that Sam isn't where he thinks she is who knows what he'll do to Nick and Callie, Sam's seemingly sudden change of heart has put us all at risk," Wesley surmised with a grim look on his face before he blew away some of the steam and took a drink of his tea.

"Riley won't do anything stupid…at least not until he knows that I'm safe, I can guarantee that…unfortunately though I'm afraid that I can't say the same thing for our superiors, they could always overrule Riley and decide to cleanse the entire operation and everyone involved, including all of you," Sam interrupted with a somber and worried look on her face as she slowly slipped into the kitchen and kept a respective distance from Hope.  

"Yeah well you'd better hope that your bosses in the Initiative don't go over your heads and decided to strike right now, because if any of my friends get hurt or die I'll hold you accountable," Faith said softly with a very sure and deadly serious frown on her face as she only half looked up at Sam, who swallowed hard and nodded her head.  "Oh and just so that you know, if anything…and I mean anything, happens to Wesley or our daughter…I'll snap your neck like a toothpick," Faith added with a look of death on her face as she locked eyes with Sam and conveyed the seriousness of her threat through the look in her eyes.  Sam shivered a bit under Faith's intense and angry glare.

"She'll do it to…and the same goes for me…," Wesley added softly with an equally serious look on his face and tone to his voice as he gently wiped some drool off of Hope's chin.

"Okay…death threats accepted, alphabetized, duly noted, cross referenced, and filed away, anything else…," Sam replied with a scared smile on her face as she tried to stay calm and crossed her arms.

"Yeah…tell us everything that you know about what the Initiative's plan is here, and don't leave anything out…no matter how insignificant," Angel stated softly yet forcefully through a pained wince on his face as he shuffled into the kitchen and sat down in a chair beside Wesley.  

*                               *                            *                       *                       *                       *

Buffy hadn't been able to sleep very well that night and as such was up early, getting an update on Gwen's condition.  Even though she had protested Spike had insisted on letting Dawn share the bed with her while he bunked out for the night on the only upholstered chair in the room.  From the way that he was lying when Buffy had woken up she guessed that he'd have a hell of a stiff neck when he woke up.  She had taken a quick trip a few blocks away from their hotel and had brought breakfast back for the three of them.  She had no sooner stepped back inside the room before Dawn slid out of the bedroom, yawning widely and using the wall to keep herself on her feet.

"Good morning sleepy head," Buffy whispered with a slight snicker as she set the bags down on the table and pulled out a chair.

"Yeah…n what's so good about it," A half asleep Spike mumbled loudly before yawning deeply and sitting up, almost instantly grimacing at the stiffness in his neck.

"Well for starters we're all still amongst the living and secondly Gwen's fever doesn't seem to be as bad as it was yesterday," Buffy replied with a relieved smile on her face before she giggled softly at Spike's attempts to get the kink out of his neck.  

"That's good news…any word on Riley or the Initiative," Dawn asked through a mouthful of muffin as she slid into a chair next to Buffy.

"Not yet…but Giles was going to call Wesley pretty soon and get an update on how Angel is doing…," Buffy answered with a worried and concerned look on her face before she took a sip of her orange juice.

"Don't worry luv, ole Peaches will be just fine…at least as long as he doesn't go and do something stupid like try to take the entire Initiative on all by himself…bloody…," Spike started to reassure Buffy with a sarcastic smile on his face before he sat upright suddenly with the realization that his words were exactly something that Angel would consider.  At that realization Buffy nearly spat out her mouthful of orange juice.

"The phone…Spike, I need to…stop him…," Buffy started to stammer out with a worried look of panic on her face after she quickly swallowed her mouthful of orange juice and set the cup down on the table.  Almost instantly Spike was up and out of his chair encircling Buffy with his arms.

"Easy Buffy…easy…if Angel was going to go all commando on the Initiative then he would have done so last night, while we were busy fending off Depp and his lot," Spike exclaimed quickly as he tried his best to calm Buffy's nerves and to keep her from doing something rash.

"Which only means that…," Buffy started to say with a worried, and slightly angry, frown on her face before Dawn interrupted.

"He's already gone and done it and nothing that anyone says will make any difference now so you should both calm down and eat some breakfast…," Dawn piped up with an amused smirk on her face before she took another bite of her muffin.

"Dawn's right Buffy, it's to late to stop him…best that we can hope for now is that he didn't get himself killed," Spike added with a serious look on his face as he felt Buffy reluctantly relax as he helped her down into the chair that he had vacated.

"I know…the least that he could have done was…," Buffy started to mope with a sad pout on her face before she grabbed her cup of juice and guided the straw to her mouth.

"Tell everyone and let you get all wigged out like you are…it wouldn't be good for the baby for you to get all bent out of shape like that…," Dawn interjected with an almost amused smirk on her face as she quickly swallowed her mouthful of muffin, nearly choking on it but spoke up anyway.

"Well sorry but I am all bent out of shape Dawn…God this is just like him you know, playing the part of the avenging crusader…ridding the world of wrongs…saving damsels in distress…probably had to stop to get a little kitten out of a tree to," Buffy moped with an angry and depressed frown on her face before she sucked in some more orange juice.

"Tell me about it…did I ever tell you about this onetime that he and I…," Spike started to add with an impish smirk on his face, while laying his hands gently on Buffy's shoulders and beginning to squeeze softly in an effort to give Buffy a massage, before he stopped abruptly as both Buffy and Dawn rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

"Please Spike, not another tale about you and Angel and how you used to be the two worst vamps in the world…," Dawn groaned out with an annoyed look on her face before she took a big bite of her muffin and tried not to laugh at the hurt look on Spike's face.

"Yes Will…I love you and all but sometimes you sound more like an old geezer than…," Buffy added softly with a patient smile on her face as she tilted her head back and looked straight up at Spike, who's face contorted through half a dozen emotions before he responded.

"I'm sorry if after living for almost two hundred years that all of my stories only get a moan and rolling of the eyes from the two of you…," Spike said softly with a slightly hurt look on his face, an utterance that prompted Buffy to smile warmly and reach a hand up to lightly pat him on the cheek.

"I've heard them all before," Dawn quipped with an amused smirk on her face before the phone rang and she sprang out of her chair before diving across the bed and grabbing the phone with her right hand.  "Hello…," Dawn managed to mumble out through another mouthful of muffin before both Spike and Buffy watched as the expression on Dawn's face changed from one of almost glee to shock and concern to confusion and then to excitement.

"Who was that," Buffy asked softly with a concerned look on her face as Dawn lazily hung the phone up.  

"Mmpf…Faith, she said that Angel has a lead on the Initiative…we're all supposed to meet at her and Wesley's house at ten…and you'll never guess where he got it from," Dawn replied with a confidant smile on her face before she nodded slightly to Buffy and ran into the bathroom to get ready.

"Now what luv…," Spike asked with a slightly confused expression on his face as he looked first at the shut bathroom door and then back down at Buffy.

"We hope that Angel's found the answer to all of our problems," Buffy answered softly with a hopeful yet worried look on her face before she leaned her head back down and took a large sip of her orange juice.

END OF CHAPTER 26


	27. The Plot Thickens And Incoming!

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 27-THE PLOT THICKENS AND-INCOMING!**

After a rather strenuous morning, what with being woken up by your second best friend in the entire world laughing off a couple dozen gunshot wounds to his torso and all, Faith had retreated back to the master bedroom, letting Wesley watch Hope while she took a shower.  As Angel healed and kept the peace in the living room Wesley had followed Faith's shower with one of his own, an affair that took a bit longer than usual as he gave Hope a quick bath at the same time.  Afterwards the family Wyndam-Pryce lay together, clad in their oversized bath towels, resting comfortably in their large bed.  

"What are you thinking about," Wesley asked lazily as he stared up at the ceiling, watching the ceiling fan spin around on its axis.

"How this all still seems a bit too easy…Angel being lucky enough to happen across the right warehouse on the first try, Sam oh so conveniently being ready to switch sides and fight for the greater good no matter what it does to her marriage…and if I left the oven on…," Faith replied, adding the last bit with a sly smirk on her face as she cast a quick glance across the pillows at her husband, who let out a soft chuckle.  

"This all does seem a bit to easy…and I do believe that you did leave the iron on, but since Dawn was going to cook something I think that she'd notice, unless of course she's to in the middle of telling her story of what happened to her last night," Wesley added with an odd frown on his face as he reached a hand up and took the ends of several strands of Faith's chocolate tresses in between his fingers and squeezed a bit of water out of them.

"She'd better not burn anything…I forgot to replace the batteries in the smoke alarms…," Faith mumbled softly with a fake look of worry on her face as she turned her head to the side and pouted a bit.

"You forgot again…I swear if…," Wesley started to say with a slightly flabbergasted look of glee on his face before Faith held a finger up to his lips and interrupted him.

"You don't want to finish that thought honey," Faith mumbled back softly with a backless glare in her eyes before Hope tipped over and fell down onto the pillow's in between them.

"You know we're going to have to find someone to watch Hope when the big battle comes, and I'm not sure that I fully trust Anya with our daughter," Wesley questioned with a concerned look on his face as he gently helped Hope back up to a seated position before he pushed himself up to a seated position in the bed, an act that Faith soon copied, making sure that her towel was still in the right place.

"Me either…but we could always ask Giles if he could watch her, after all he'll have to stay behind and take care of Gwen when the battle finally does come…right," Faith replied with a nervous look on her face as she began to absentmindedly smooth out the wrinkles that were begging to form in Hope's hair.

"This was all so much simpler back in Los Angeles…there was a problem, I hit my books, Angel…brooded, Gunn…well he…actually I'm not really sure what he did, Fred tried her best to help but usually ended up trying to find a scientific explanation for…," Wesley said with an almost nostalgic look of awe on his face before Faith reached over and lightly punched him in the shoulder, drawing a confused look in return.  Rather than try to explain Faith reached out and pulled Wesley close before gently pressing her lips to his as Hope fell over backwards again but didn't get immediately helped up this time.

*                        *                         *                             *                      *                        *

"That's a nice look for you Peaches…all weak and reserved…," Spike joked with a muted smirk of amusement on his face as he gently nudged Angel's shoulder with his elbow.  

"You think so…if I had an uzi I could…," Angel started to return with an equally muted smirk of amusement on his face with his clear intent doing the backstroke in his gaze before Buffy stepped in between the two and forcefully grabbed Spike by the arm and pulled him away.

"Over my dead body…I swear we've been here less than five minutes and already you two have resorted to acting like children," Buffy moaned with an angry and frustrated frown on her face as she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Just doing what comes natural pet," Spike mumbled softly with a daring smile on his face as he avoided Buffy's glare while Angel tried his suppress a smile of his own.  In response Buffy started to say something as she squeezed Spike's arm very tightly but stopped when Sam slowly stepped into the living room.

"Uh…hi…again," Sam spoke up with a nervous smile on her face as she briefly waved hello and then sat down on the couch and stared at her hands.

"Hello Sam…," Buffy said softly as she returned the greeting while trying to keep her emotions in check and not do anything rash like snap the other woman's spine. 

"Must be feeling pretty proud of yourself right now huh, pulled the wool over Captain Cardboard's eyes…or maybe the wool's not over his…but ours," Spike added with a deadly serious expression on his face as he slowly walked towards Sam, who shrunk back slightly into the cushion of the couch at his approach.

"Leave her alone Spike, she's here to help us stop Riley and…," Angel interrupted with an angry tone to his voice as he went to move to stand up but stopped at the enormous amount of pain that tore through his torso.  

"That's what she says she's here for anyway, me…I'm not totally convinced that Mrs. Cardboard here is telling us everything, maybe this is all part of some plan to…," Spike started to wonder aloud with a very serious look on his face as he towered down over Sam, who quickly scooted to one side to get out from under his shadow.

"Lay off Spike, so far she's our best lead to finding Nick and Callie and stopping this apocalypse," Dawn grumbled with an annoyed frown on her face as she slowly walked into the living room, hands rammed deeply into her pockets and hair pulled back into a loose ponytail.  

"Might convenient is all I'm saying…," Spike mumbled softly with a defeated pout on his face as he turned away from Sam and walked back towards Buffy.

"Shouldn't someone get Faith and Wesley…if we're going to have a meeting don't you think that they should be here…since it is kind of their house and all," Dawn added with an almost bored look on her face as she plopped down on the couch but kept her distance from Sam.  

"I'll do it…," Spike began to exclaim with a sly smirk on his face before Buffy pulled his hand down and cleared her throat softly.

"No William, you'll stay here and play nice with Angel while I go and get Wesley and Faith," Buffy stated with a  very serious look on her face as she quickly stepped away from Spike and headed down the hall, giving the former vampire absolutely no time to come up with a response.

*                            *                        *                         *                         *                           *

"We should be in there…," Gunn grumbled with an unhappy frown on his face as he leaned back up against the tree while scratching one of the puppies behind its right ear.  

"Charles…," Fred chided with the angriest glare that she could summon up on such short notice as she clutched the other puppy tightly.

"It's only been an hour, and no matter what they decide we can't do anything until tonight, we just have to hope that Nick and Callie will be safe until then," Willow chimed in with a relaxed tone to her voice as she gently coaxed a dandelion to open up and bloom. 

"And what if they aren't, by now Riley knows of Sam's deception and is probably coming here right now to kill us all, we should take the fight to them," Connor interjected with a serious frown on his face as he watched Liam bend down and pick up a large leaf that had fallen from one of the trees.

"We will…but when the time is right, it won't help any of us to attack them when they have their defenses up, and besides if they keep their word all that we have to do is take out a few of these scaly demons and they'll leave us alone," Xander joined in with an almost goofball like smile on his face as he squatted down beside Liam and Christopher, who had now begun to fight over the leaf.

"Xander…when have you ever known anything to be that easy…," Cordelia chided with an unhappy frown on her face as she kept a watchful eye on Liam.

"And I trust the Initiative to keep its word about as much as…," Willow started to add with an unhappy frown on her face as the dandelion began to wilt in front of her before everyone outside was silenced by a large fireball that passed mere inches above their heads and slammed into Buffy and Spike's rental car, causing it to explode in a large fireball and be thrown into the air like a toy.  Instantly Xander dove on top of Christopher and Connor threw Cordelia on top of Liam before he covered her with his body.  Anya and Willow quickly ducked behind the nearest tree before daring a peek.

*                     *                       *                           *                      *                        *

"Yeah well may I be the first to say…look out," Spike started to mumble with an angry scowl on his face before his eyes widened at the sight of the fireball streaking towards their rental car and he screamed the warning before ducking for cover.  Wesley pulled Hope closer to him and turned his back away from the window as Faith rolled off of the couch, just as the windows shattered, showering everyone with glass.

"Spike…," Buffy shouted with a panicked and worried tone to her voice as she looked up and shook the glass out of her hair.

"I'm fine…Angel," Spike replied with a very serious frown on his face before he cocked his head back to one side and stared back at his former grandsire.

"Never better…what happened," Angel exclaimed with an overwhelmed look on his face as he struggled back to his feet with Sam's help while Wesley and Faith huddled together and made sure that all three members of their small family were alright.

"Giant fireball, hit our rental car…guess we won't be getting the deposit back…," Spike groaned softly with a dejected frown on his face as he cautioned a glance out of the shattered window.

"Spike…," Dawn shouted with an angry expression on her face before she caught sight of the action that was taking place out in Wesley and Faith's backyard.

"Everyone stay down…we have to…," Angel started to shout with a commanding frown on his face before another fireball slammed into one of the larger trees and it burst into flames.

"Do something other than die," Faith shouted with a worried look on her face as she got up and took Hope from Wesley before handing her to Giles and placing a gentle kiss on her daughter's forehead.  The old watcher slowly nodded his head in a grim acceptance of the situation.

"It has to be the demon's that we're supposed to destroy," Wesley exclaimed with a nervous look on his face as he ducked and dodged his way to the door with an almost panicked Sam wishing that she had a gun.  

"But what are they doing here…how'd they find us," Faith shouted out her question with a worried look on her face as another of their trees went up in flames.

"I'm not…," Wesley started to answer with a confused look on his face before Spike reached up, turned the knob, and threw the door open.

"Does it really matter luv…what do you say that we leave the questions like that until after we've kicked their asses," Spike growled with a deadly serious scowl on his face before he rushed through the doorway and down the stairs, with a nervous Buffy close behind.  With only a quick and longing glance back towards Hope Wesley turned and followed Spike and Buffy outside, with Faith close on his heels.

"Time to…hey," Dawn started to exclaim with a happy smirk on her face before Angel reached out and grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go.

"No Dawn…you have to stay here, I can't go out there and help them fight so you have to stay here and help me protect Gwen and Hope," Angel stated with a pained wince on his face as he slowly stood up and made his way over to the window, careful to stay out of the direct rays of sunlight in the process.  

"What am I…uh don't answer that," Sam started to ask with a slightly hurt glare in her eyes before she realized the full weight of what she was saying and shut up.

*                        *                              *                            *                       *                       *

"Get them inside," Gunn shouted to Connor as the latter scooped up Christopher in one arm and Liam in the other.  

"I know…," Connor growled back with an eerily calm look on his face as he handed Liam to Cordelia and Christopher to Xander and Anya, who all immediately took off towards the house while Willow did her best to concentrate on getting the words right to the spell that had suddenly appeared in her head.

"This is bad…," Fred shouted with a scared look on her face as she huddled behind one of the larger trees and did her best to clutch the two growing puppies close to her and keep them from charging their attackers.

"We're well aware of that Fred," Faith shouted with an angry scowl on her face as she ran up and knelt down beside Fred just as another fireball seemed to come from out of nowhere and slam into another tree.

"Ah…that was my favorite…," Wesley moaned softly with a slightly sarcastic frown on his face as he watched the tree begin to burn.  

"I'll get you one just like it from the nearest nursery when this is all over…," Spike joked with an impatient scowl on his face as he passed Fred and the others on his way to the barn, with Buffy close on his heels.

"Is everyone alright…is…," Fred tried to ask but her nerves got the better of her and she couldn't finish the question fully.

"Everyone's fine Fred…at least for the time being…," Wesley replied with a nervous and slightly scared look on his face as he ducked behind one of the larger trees with Faith scurrying his way.

"Let's hope it stays that way," Faith added with a nervous and grim smirk on her face as she finished the crossing and knelt down beside Wesley.

"What's going on," Fred asked with a worried and panicked expression on her face as another fireball rocketed in and barely missed the barn before fizzling to a stop in the driveway.

"I believe that the demons that we were contracted to destroy have decided to bring the fight to us…," Wesley replied with a nervous and angry scowl on his face before he and the others were forced to duck for cover as another giant fireball roared in over their heads.  

"In other words unless we gets some weapons we're fucked," Faith growled with an angry tone to her voice before Spike and Buffy rushed back out of the barn, arms full of weapons.

"Which is where we come in," Buffy interjected with a serious look on her face as she and Spike ducked another fireball before kneeling down beside Wesley and Faith and handing Wesley an axe and Faith a sword.

"Thanks…now how are we going to do this…straight on rushing them would be futile…and I'm not about to leave Hope as an orphan before she's two…," Faith wondered aloud with a concerned expression on her face as she tried but failed to catch a glimpse of their attackers.

"Faith…you and Buffy will slowly make your way forward to draw their fire while Spike and I circle around on either side and surprise them from behind," Wesley said with an utterly grim frown etched upon his face as he half stood up and peered through the trees.

"Hey now…who died and made you…," Spike started to ask with an unsure look on his face before a grunt from Buffy cut him off and he closed his mouth and silently nodded his head.

"And just what am I supposed to do in the meantime Custer," Gunn asked with a slightly angry at being left out of the plan look on his face as he rushed over to stand beside Wesley.

"Stay back near the driveway and kill anything that gets past us," Faith replied with a nervous look on her face as she took a sword from Spike and handed it to Gunn as she stood up and leaned slightly into Wesley.

"Fine…good luck…you're gonna need it," Gunn grumbled softly with an unhappy and worried frown on his face as he took the sword and headed back out of the trees, uttering the last quartet of words under his breath as a prayer to a deity that he wasn't even sure that he still believed in.

"Now don't either of you go and get any bright ideas and try to take them on all by yourselves, anything happens we fall back to the house and evacuate everyone to our hotels," Buffy declared with a very serious and commanding look on her face before placing a possibly final kiss on the lips of the man that she loved and headed forward.  

"Don't go dying on me Wes…I'm not going to raise these two on my own…," Faith whispered under her breath to Wesley with a clearly pleading and worried tone of voice before Wesley pulled her into a kiss that would have lasted longer had the situation not been as dire.  Soon thereafter Faith got a better grip on her sword and followed off after Buffy.

"Well mate…what say we tempt the fates and reap the whirlwind…," Spike asked with an amused and invigorated smile on his face, one that oddly enough Wesley shared, before the two nodded and parted ways, venturing forth into combat.

*                     *                        *                           *                     *                           *

"Nobody move…I…I lost a contact…," Whistler exclaimed with a panic-stricken expression on his face as he tilted his head back and rounded the corner in front of a pair of Initiative soldiers.

"Hey…who are you," One of the guards demanded loudly in a very gruff tone of voice as he took the safety off of his gun and elbowed the other guard.

"Stop right there…," The other guard shouted as she put her gun up to her shoulder and aimed it straight at Whistler's heart.

"My…a lady…and here I was thinking that the Initiative was a guys only kind of club…guess you learn something new every day," Whistler added with an impish chuckle and smile on his face as he lowered his head and smiled at the two guards before finally tipping his hat to the two in a greeting.  "Speaking of which…got any plans for tonight…," Whistler started to ask with an amused smirk on his face as he took a step forward before both guards acted upon their earlier threats and fired off a few shots, striking the demon with every shot.  "Hey…what was that for…do you know how hard it is to get bullet holes out of shirts…," Whistler asked with an only half angry frown on his face as he inspected the holes in his shirt while the guards stared on in disbelief.

END OF CHAPTER 27


	28. To All Things

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 28- TO ALL THINGS---**

Buffy followed Faith closely as the two wove their way forward, ducking behind a nearby tree each time that a fireball was flung in their general direction.  For most of the way both of the slayers managed to keep their minds focused entirely on the task at hand, but as they seemingly inched forward other thoughts crept into their heads.  Thoughts and more truthfully fears of how their significant others were faring.  Faith held onto the belief that Wesley could take care of himself and that she would instinctively know if something were to happen to him.  Buffy was clear on the fact that Spike would most likely cause an apocalypse before he'd ever go down in defeat to a pack of lizard demon's.

Many yards away Spike had swung around quickly and scanned the trees in front of him for any signs of the demons that were attacking.  Even though he was no longer a vampire Spike had retained enough of his vampiric senses so that his eyesight was still better than most humans.  He watched for the slightest glint off of a scale or anything that would pinpoint the demon's location.  He knelt down behind a large tree and started to lay his sword down but stopped when he heard a noise beside him.  Wesley had gone over the plan again and again in his mind, hoping that it had been a wise course of action.  Years earlier when a similar situation had arisen he would have only been sending friends and associates into battle, people that he would later consider family.  But now he had sent into battle the woman that meant more than the world to him, a woman that he didn't believe that he could live without.  His worries mostly centered on staying alive and keeping his promise to Faith to make it through the battle alive.  He hoped that those who had stayed in the house were safe and that his little angel was as well.  Wesley ducked underneath a low branch and started to move towards where he thought that he had seen a fireball originate from.  He became so concentrated on that one spot that he failed to see the demon rush him from the side, swiping out with its clawed hand, raking him across the side and chest, and opening up painful wounds.

*                        *                          *                          *                      *                             *

"I can't see anything…," Dawn moaned with an annoyed frown on her face as she knelt down beside the blown out window and peered off into the distance.

"I think that we should take that as a good thing Dawn," Cordelia quipped with a nervous smile on her face as she stepped away from the window with a scared Liam in her arms.  After handing Christopher to Xander and Liam to her Connor had disappeared into the barn and Cordelia hadn't seen him exit.  Willow had stayed near Fred and gotten up a defensive shield that she hoped would be strong enough.

"Not if something's gone wrong…are you sure that you can't see anything Dawn…," Angel added with a very serious and worried look on his face as he gingerly rose from his chair and got as near to the window as he could without getting into the direct sunlight.

"As sure as I'm sure that…," Dawn started to reply with a very serious expression on her face before Xander broke in.

"You know what guys, get me a few sheets of plywood, a good hammer and some nails and I could fix this in no time flat," Xander interjected with a good natured smile on his face before he abruptly retreated back behind Anya at the sight of the daggers in the glares of everyone else in the room was aimed his way.

"I think that it'd be prudent if we move everyone out of the living room and upstairs while we have the time," Giles said with a worried but yet calm look on his face as he stepped into the room with a sickly looking Gwen in his arms.  

"Good idea, I might actually be able to see something from one of the windows upstairs," Dawn said with a slightly excited smile on her face as she raced past Giles and up the stairs.

"Is she…always like that," Sam asked with a confused and somewhat worried frown on her face as she watched Dawn race up the stairs.

"Always…," Xander answered softly with a worried tone to his voice before he picked Christopher up and headed upstairs after Dawn.

*                  *                     *                                 *                        *                      *

"Y…you…," The male guard stammered out with a complete look of disbelief on his face as he lowered his weapon and tried to make sense of the scene in front of him.

"H…how…," The female guard asked with an equally confused look on her face as she stared at the holes in Whistler's shirt.

"What can I saw…it pays to be immortal," Whistler replied with a very proud of himself smile on his face before he reached into his pocket and pulled out two small spheres, each about the size of a large marble.  Taking the guards by surprise Whistler acted fast and flung the two spheres at the guards, catching them off guard.  Upon impact the two spheres burst open, sending a colorful electric charge through the guard's bodies.  Seconds later a triumphant Whistler stepped over the guards' smoking bodies, humming a chipper tune, as he headed on to his objective.

*                      *                         *                          *                          *                            *

Faith's body went numb the second that Wesley's cries of pain registered in her brain.  In turn she had to summon up all of her fortitude to not drop her sword and rush blindly towards the direction in which Wesley's cries had come from.  Tears spilt out onto her knuckles as she nearly crushed the sword's hilt in an attempt to allay her nerves.  Future fears rushed across her field of vision before she bit down on her bottom lip, hard enough to draw a steady stream of blood, before taking a deep breath and continuing her trek forward.  She hadn't gone much further when one of the demons burst out of the thicket, hissing in anger at the sight of a slayer in its path.  Faith gave the demon a once over with her eyes, taking in each and every detail that she would need to fight, and kill, the demon before several more demons came crashing into view behind the first one.

"Sssssslayerrrrrrrr….," The first demon hissed with a fairly sizeable amount of venom in its voice before it raised a clawed hand and rushed towards her.  Instantly Faith ducked out of the way of the way of the clawed hand but forgot about the demon's tail and didn't react quickly enough when it caught her by surprise and knocked her off of her feet.

"Shit…," Faith cursed loudly as her body collided with the ground, momentarily forcing all of the air out of her body.  Seeing a possible opening to kill Faith the first demon grinned madly and swooped in for the kill, only to stop mere inches from Faith's throat at the glint of metal coming towards it.

"No," Buffy shouted with an angry expression on her face as she rushed forward to help Faith, sword raised, poised to attack.  The demon lurched back, regained its composure, and started to snap its tail towards Buffy.

"T…tail…Buffy…watch out," Faith managed to choke out through her attempts to force the air that had been expunged only moments earlier back into her lungs and get back into the fight.  Faith's warning came at just the right moment, allowing Buffy to dodge away from the tail as it zipped past her and spin around one of the other demons before she brought the blade of her sword down on the back of the demon's neck.  The demon didn't react fast enough and so the blade bit deeply into its back, killing it almost instantly.  The death of that first demon sent the others into a frenzy, charging like mad.  Buffy managed to deflect the attacks of the first two demons to charge at her before the third one came in just under her block and snapped her right shoulder with its tail.  Lightning bolts of pain flooded from her shoulder throughout the rest of her body as almost instantly her shoulder went numb.  Buffy watched in shock as the sword slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.

"Buffy," Faith shouted, finally having regained her voice, as she leapt to her feet and went to the aid of her sister slayer.

*                                  *                 *                       *                        *                         *

After initially crying out in pain Wesley had doubled over from the spasms of pain that wracked his body.  The cackled in delight as it swung its tail around and took Wesley's legs out from under him from behind.  Had he not been just injured Wesley would have been able to dodge the attack and stayed on his feet, but seeing at how his shirt was quickly becoming nothing more than a blood stained rag he couldn't move fast enough.  It took nearly all of his strength and resolve to hold onto the sword as he went down, knowing that if he lost his sword now that his life would soon follow.  Thinking its prey not able to fight the demon opened its dagger lined mouth and bent down to take a bite out of the former watcher.  Acting more on instinct than an actual plan Wesley gripped his sword tightly and jabbed the point upwards as hard as he could.  Not expecting Wesley to fight back the demon couldn't stop its downward thrust and so impaled itself on Wesley's sword, with the point of the sword striking straight through its brain and killing it instantly.  "Thank…blo…," Wesley started to mumble before the now dead demon's body pitched forward and fell on top of him, nearly crushing the air out of him in the process.  As he struggled to push the dead carcass off of him Wesley could only imagine what the others were going through, hoping that Faith and Buffy hadn't been as caught off guard as he had.  He had almost gotten the dead demon off of him when he became dizzy and suddenly very warm and relaxed.  The smell of the dead demon mixed with being drenched in not only his blood but the demons as well caused Wesley to nearly want to vomit.  No matter how hard he fought he soon found his field of vision going black and closing into a tunnel straight-ahead.  The last thing that he heard before he blacked out was Spike shouting a rather derogatory statement about watchers.

*                      *                          *                        *                    *                              *

"I wish I knew what was happening…," Fred stated with a very worried frown on her face as she gripped one of the puppies collar tighter while Willow held onto the other puppy.

"They can take care of themselves Fred…well that is unless Spike or Faith take matters into their own hands and…," Willow replied with at first an optimistic smile on her face before she realized what she was hinting at and her countenance fell to one of worry and concern.

"Get someone killed…," Fred offered up with a sarcastic smile on her face as she looked forward hoping to catch a glimpse of the battle that she knew to be happening somewhere out there.

"Let's hope that we avoid that outcome shall we…but we should move back from here, get the puppies back to their pen and then retreat back to the house to make sure that everyone there is safe and sound," Willow added with a very serious expression on her face before she stood up and pulled the puppy up into her arms and beckoned for Fred to follow suit.

"That sounds like a good idea to me…," Fred mumbled softly with a worried look on her face as she scrambled to her feet before she and Willow rushed off towards the barn.

*                    *                                *                              *                      *                        *

After voicing his displeasure at how current and former watchers fought Spike surged forward and with some effort managed to shove the dead demon's body off of Wesley.  He started to kneel down to ascertain Wesley's condition but was interrupted by a snarling demon that didn't seem to be to pleased to see one of its own lying in a bloody heap on the ground.  Had he been allotted a bit more time Spike would have actually come up with a strategy of how to fight the demon glaring at him, but with the circumstances as they were he only managed to lift his sword up in a defensive manner before the demon was upon him, slashing wildly with its claws and snapping its tail at him.  Avoiding the claws took up most of his concentration and if not for the sword in his hands the demon's tail would have done a number on Spike.  Finally seeing a slight opening in the demon's attack Spike struck with everything that he had, first feigning out of the way of one attack before he ducked underneath the second one and lunged in for the kill.  The demon was dead in seconds and it took every ounce of Spike's enhanced strength to keep the demon from falling on top of Wesley.

*                     *                       *                              *                              *                         *

"What do you think they're going to do to us…that Riley guy didn't seem to be very happy that Sam was missing," Callie asked with a worried look on her face as she tightly wrapped her arms around herself and began to slowly pace around the room.

"I'm not sure…but I wouldn't have pegged that guy to be gay…," Nick mumbled back in reply with a confused frown on his face before Callie abruptly stopped pacing and spun around on her heels to face him.

"He's not gay Nick…there was a ring on his finger and Sam is probably short for Samantha or something…," Callie grumbled with an annoyed and nervous look on her face before she walked up to Nick and slightly leaned up against him.

"Sorry…it's just that I keep expecting those goons to bust the door down and fill us full of more holes that Swiss cheese every time I hear a sound," Nick said with a scared look on his face before there was a slight screeching sound that made him jump slightly.  

"I know…this place gives me the creeps to, I swear this must have been some old factory that they shut down decades ago…I can't wait to get out of this place…that is if that Whistler guy ever shows up again…," Callie added with a nervous and slightly cold frown on her face as she shivered a bit and scratched a scab on her arm.

"Did I hear someone call my name…my adoring public awaits…," Whistler exclaimed with a fair amount of glee in his voice as he shuffled into the room and beamed at Nick and Callie's shocked expressions.

"What…you…how…how did you get in here…the guards…," Callie stammered out with a completely shocked expression on her face as she struggled to find the right words.

"The guards are currently winging through dreamland courtesy of a little bit of magic not known to this world…leaving me the perfect chance to get the two of you out of here and back to your friends," Whistler answered with a somewhat hurried look on his face as he walked around the room, making grandiose gestures as he went.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's get out of here," Nick answered with a hopeful yet scared look on his face as he grabbed Callie's hand and headed towards the door.

"Good idea…but just remember, the magic that I used on the guards won't last very long so don't get any bright ideas of sticking around okay…get your behinds in gear and get out of here," Whistler interjected with an oddly serious smirk on his face as he started to wave to the pair.

"What's that supposed to mean…," Callie asked with a slightly confused look on her face as she stopped walking and turned back to Whistler.

"It means that the guards will be waking up shortly so if I were you I'd vacate the premises while I had the chance, oh yeah and one more thing…your friends are in trouble, they're going to need your help before this is all over," Whistler added with a worried and nervous frown on his face before he turned around and walked into the darkness, seemingly disappearing instantly into it.

"Come on Callie…let's go…," Nick exclaimed with a scared look on his face before he pulled hard on Callie's arm and the two scrambled first out of the room and then out of the building as fast as they could, heading for the nearest highway and eventual freedom.

*                          *                            *                           *                      *                          *

"I think that's all of them…," Connor grumbled with an angry scowl on his face as he slit the throat, just to make sure, of the last fire breathing reptilian demon that they had come across.

"Let's hope so…because I don't think that I have enough strength left to take on any more of these things," Gunn answered with an impatient and worried frown on his face as he bent over and tried his best to catch his breath.

"Where's Faith," Xander asked with a worried look on his face as he looked squeamishly down at the bodies of the demons on the ground in front of him.

"She rode with Wesley in the ambulance, Angel tried to get her to calm down but she nearly threw him through a wall…I've never seen her that scared," Gunn replied with a worried and scared look on his face as he only half looked up at Xander and shook his head.

"She has a right to be Charles…," Fred mumbled softly with a panicked expression on her face before a couple of tears slipped out and she had to turn away and compose herself.

"He didn't look so good when I found him, that demon really did a number on him," Spike added with a sad and frustrated scowl on his face as he shuffled his feet before Buffy spoke up.

"He'll be okay…he has to be…but right now we unfortunately have more important matters to attend to, not only are Nick and Callie still out there somewhere but Giles said that Gwen's getting worse and he doesn't think that she has to long unless we can get that antidote," Buffy interjected with a very serious and worried look on her face as she clenched her hands into fists to keep from getting to angry at her lack of control over the situation.

"We're stuck squarely behind the eight ball aren't we," Gunn asked with a grave look of concern on his face as he shook his head before he reared back and gave one of the demons a sharp kick in the ribs.

"In more ways than one, look…," Spike grumbled with an annoyed frown on his face and caught site of a long limousine with darkened windows pull into the driveway with an oddly familiar van behind it.

"Who the hell…," Connor started to ask with an uncomfortable scowl on his face as he let his gaze follow everyone else's and look to the driveway just as the limousine pulled to a stop right beside the burnt out remains of the rental car.

"I don't know Connor, but we're about to find out," Willow replied with a nervous and impatient pout on her face as the words to the strongest shield spell that she knew began to spring into her mind.

"Wait…I've seen that van somewhere before…it kind of looks like…," Cordelia mumbled softly with a confused expression on her face as she pulled Liam closer to her and took a step back behind Connor.

"It couldn't be…," Buffy quipped with a cross between an elated and concerned look on her face before a dusty blond haired man stepped out of the limo, looked around quickly, and beckoned to someone else inside.  

"Ah…thank you Simmons…keep the engine running, this won't take long," A man from inside of the limo said casually before swinging his legs out of the door and standing up, garnering a shocked gasp from Cordelia.

"Oh my…," Cordelia gasped with a shocked look on her face as she nearly dropped Liam before the initial shock wore off and she quickly glanced around as if expecting a trap.

"Lindsey…," Gunn finished with a perplexed expression on his face as he got a tighter grip on his axe and waited.

"He's not alone…look," Connor interrupted with a very serious look on his face as he nodded his head towards the van.  Everyone in attendance stood in a stunned silence as the occupants of the van slowly filed out, all four of them, beginning with a grinning and spiky haired guitarist and ending with an oddly dressed man that was trying his best not to sneeze, with a hulking fighter and a former detective in the middle.

END OF CHAPTER 28


	29. An Ending

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 29- ---AN ENDING---**

The ambulance ride to the hospital seemed like an eternity to Faith before the vehicle finally screeched to a halt in front of the automatic doors.  Ever since she had found him lying on the ground in a large pool of his and the demon's blood time seemed to have begun going in slow motion, with everything taking an excruciating amount of time, even the smallest detail or action.  The battle had ended right then and there for Faith as she had thrown her sword off to the side as if it were an empty soda bottle and didn't remember anyone calling for the ambulance. When she had first heard the siren she had rushed back inside the house and threw open one of the cupboards before pulling out Wesley's wallet and the purse that she rarely used but housed all of their emergency information and tearing back outside.  Angel had tried to stand in her way and try to get her to calm down but she had been about to toss him through a wall when Hope had begun crying.  Without uttering a word Faith had given Hope a tight hug, handed her over to Angel, and gave him a glare that threatened his death if anything happened to her daughter.  After that she had flown back outside, just in time to leap into the ambulance before it departed.

The back doors to the ambulance were swung open and the paramedics quickly wheeled Wesley out of the ambulance and rushed him into the hospital, with Faith scrambling to keep up.  In the process she knocked three orderlies off of their feet and nearly ran down an old woman that had chosen the most inopportune moment to try to take a walk.  She clamped a hand down onto the railing of the gurney and held on tight just as the first doctor rushed in.

*                      *                           *                              *                       *                      *

"Ah, Cordelia…it's good to see you again," Lindsey said with a rather smug look on his face as he adjusted his tie and started to walk towards them, not even glancing down at the bodies of the demons until he was nearly standing on top of them.

"Oz," Willow stammered out in disbelief before she couldn't keep a smile from plastering itself all of the way across her face, one shadowed by her former lover as he waved.

"D….D…Doyle…," Cordelia garbled out softly as a cold chill wracked her body and she nearly dropped Liam before she handed her son to Connor and had to wrap her hands behind her back before her hands began to shake noticeably.  

"Cordelia Chase…just the lady that I wanted to see…ye're looking as fine as ever…," Doyle exclaimed with his usually good natured smile only moments before he collected a startled Cordelia into a tight and warm hug.  The hug continued to be one-sided for a time, with a confused Connor looking on, before the dam burst and Cordelia began to sob into Doyle's shoulder as she returned the hug with an added strength that Doyle didn't remember her having.

"It grieves me to see you cry princess," Groo interjected with a serious and concerned look on his face before he heartily shook hands with Gunn and smiled at an ecstatic Fred.

"Groo…I thought we talked about this…," Kate interrupted with an almost scolding tone to her voice before she crossed her arms in front of her and nodded her head to the group.

"Sorry…," Groo started to reply with a sad look on his face before Cordelia pulled back and slapped Doyle hard across the face.

"What…what was that for…," Doyle cried in disbelief, with a hand on his slightly red cheek, as he stumbled back a step or two.

"You idiot…you…weren't…supposed…to…die…you were…supposed to…," Cordelia screamed angrily at Doyle as she punctuated each word by pounding one of her fists on the half demon's chest before she collapsed back into his arms and let the tears fall again.

"Whoa…what's with Cordelia making with the big emotional scene…I know that she and Doyle used to work together but I never…," Oz whispered softly to Willow as he stepped up beside her and leaned in close.  

"Me either…," Willow stammered back softly with a dumbfounded frown on her face as she only half turned her head to look over at Oz.

"We should get the bodies out of the open like this," Spike said loudly as he interrupted the touching reunion and knelt down beside one of the bodies.

"I will assist you," Groo offered up with a genuine smile on his face before Spike regarded him oddly for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and the two worked quickly to dump the bodies in the burn pile behind the barn.

"We'd better get inside and talk, Angel is probably going crazy right now wondering what the commotion is all about," Lindsey said with an almost, but not quite, smug smirk on his face as he looked over at the house before setting off towards the front steps.

*                     *                              *                        *                          *                          *

"What's happening now Dawn," Angel asked with a frustrated and worried look on his face as he inched closer to the window but groaned when he had to stop many feet away because of the long rays of sunlight filtering in through the window.

"I don't know…there's a stupid tree branch in the way…now let's see…there's a guy that's all dressed up in a suit and tie, a poorly dressed guy that Cordelia's hugging a little to much, a blonde woman, and a big guy that looks like he could give you a run for your money," Dawn answered with a confused and somewhat worried look on her face before she turned around and looked up and back at Angel.

"Oh wait…Dawn, you missed one…Oz," Giles said with a concerned and stoic frown on his face as he leaned over Dawn and gazed out of the window.  

"Oz…Oz is here…cool," Xander quipped with an excited and surprised smile on his face as he rushed to the window, pushed Giles away, and looked out.

"Oh yes…cool, I'm going to check on Gwen, please call me if anything…uncool happens," Giles grumbled through a frustrated sigh as he shrugged his shoulders, adjusted his glasses, and then headed out of the room.  

"Will do…," Angel exclaimed with a concerned frown on his face as he only half acknowledged that Giles had left the room.

*                       *                          *                                 *                    *                       *

"Nice place Angel has here…funny…I never took him for being much of an interior decorator…but…," Lindsey started to say with an amused smirk on his face before Cordelia cut in.

"This isn't Angel's house, friends of ours…good…friends of ours live here…and I don't think that they'll like it very much if you get this place to dirty," Cordelia said with a deliberate tone and pacing to her voice as she did her best to stay in front of Lindsey, which turned out to be no small task.

"This is a nice castle…cottage…dwelling," Groo stammered out with an embarrassed smile on his face as he searched for the right word to express his sentiment.

"Not that we're not…glad…to have you here…uh, just what are you doing here anyway," Fred started to say with a slight mumble before she corrected herself and spoke clearly.  

"Helping our friends save the world from the forces of evil," Oz chimed in with an optimistic smile on his face, one that Willow mirrored. 

"Oh that's original, what next…snazzy code names and a catchy rallying cry…please, spare me the old…," Spike grumbled with a mocking smile on his face before he was silenced by Buffy with a sharp elbow to his ribs.

"Oz…how did you…I mean we tried to keep this…," Buffy started to ask with a confused look on her face, but serious glare over at Spike, before Angel gingerly descended the stairs and almost instantly came face to face with Lindsey.

"Lindsey…what the hell are you doing here," Angel started off with a startled tone of voice before he set his jaw and glared straight ahead at the former lawyer.

"Angel…what's this…you don't look very glad to see me," Lindsey said back with an almost smug smirk on his face as he kept his gaze locked onto Angel for a few seconds before turning away and walking back into the living room.

"Why should I," Angel growled back as he did his best to follow after Lindsey but was slowed by his injuries.

"Because he brought us," Oz stated with a nervous smile on his face before every eye in the room turned his way.

*                      *                             *                                *                             *               *

She watched as a pair of orderlies pushed an old woman on a gurney down the hall from one room to another.  The woman had been mostly out of it, probably from the many effects of one drug or another that she was on, but the sight had only served to further fray her already skittish nerves.  Try as she might she had not been able to follow Wesley any farther than the first trauma room, being asked to wait in the waiting room until a doctor that knew what was going on came and talked to her.  Had she been the Faith of years past she would have ripped the waiting room apart, people and all.  But now she had set about biting her fingernails, reducing them to almost nothing, and pacing dangerously around the room to keep herself busy while she waited.  She watched as patients and families came and went and yet still no information about Wesley.  Finally trying to calm her frayed nerves she sat down in a lone chair that was set off from the others and tried her best to find something outside to catch her attention.

"Mrs. Wyndam-Pryce," A doctor asked softly with a concerned and serious tone to his voice as he slowly shuffled into the waiting room and looked around.  Faith had spun around in her seat and locked her gaze onto the doctor before he had finished speaking.

"Yes…," Faith exclaimed with a very nervous look on her face as she bolted up out of the chair and rushed over to the doctor, so quickly in fact that the doctor cringed in fear a bit before calming down.

"You're husband is in surgery right now to try to close up the wounds that he received…may I ask how he obtained those garish wounds," The doctor asked with a scared look on his face as he shuffled his feet and tried not to sound to negative.

"Uh…ah fuck it…sorry doc but you wouldn't believe me if I told you…but he's going to be okay right…," Faith started to reply with a sheepish grin on her face before she shook her head angrily and almost spat out the rest.

"I'm sorry to say that we won't know that until after he comes out of surgery Mrs. Wyndam-Pryce, otherwise I'd only be giving you false hope, and that's the last thing that I want to do right now, so I'm sorry but you're going to have to wait a while longer," The doctor said with an apologetic look on his face as Faith did her best to control her temper before he turned and walked back through the doors and back out of the waiting room.

"Fuck…," Faith grumbled with an annoyed scowl on her face as she pounded her left fist into the open palm of her right hand before she sulked back to her seat and pulled it up to the window before sitting down and leaning her head forward against the cool glass as she tried to hold back the tears and wait.

*                        *                         *                      *                       *                         *

"She doesn't look so good," Kate said with a worried look on her face as she knelt down beside Gwen and looked back up at Angel.

"Thanks…I hadn't noticed," Angel responded with an uncomfortable scowl on his face as he leaned back up against the wall and crossed his arms.

"There's no need to be bitchy about it Angel…I was only making an observation," Kate grumbled under her breath with an angry tone to her voice as she pushed off of the floor and got back up to her feet.

"Sorry…right now's not a good time for me…all of this has made me jumpy," Angel replied with a slightly embarrassed look on his face as he subtly shrugged his shoulders.

"I know what you mean…Groo's been quite the handful after I told him that I was pregnant, I swear I can't even take a drink of ice water without him asking if it's too cold," Kate said with a tired frown on her face as she wiped a hand across her face and rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah…I guess you…wait…you're pregnant…Groo," Angel started to mumble back softly before what Kate had said fully hit him and he stumbled over the rest of an awkward question.  

"Yeah…big surprise I know…you should have seen the look on my face when the doctor told me, I came close to passing out…," Kate replied with a nervous shrug of her shoulders as she walked towards the door.

"I don't…but Groo…sorry…congratulations, I hope that you're baby is…," Angel started to say with a slightly cheesy smile on his face before Dawn peeked her head into the room and smiled.

"Sorry to interrupt Angel but Faith just called, she said that Wesley's going to be okay but that it'll take awhile for him to heal and that he's out of the fight for a while, she wants someone to bring Hope to her…and there's one other…small…thing…," Dawn started to say with a relieved look on her face before her face fell and she frowned sadly at the end.

"What is it…what's wrong," Kate asked with a concerned look on her face before Angel could pose the same question to the youngest of the three slayers.

"She said that she's staying there…at the hospital…she's not going to help us fight the demons…the ones that we need to get rid of so that Riley will give you the antidote to the Quikoslan poison for Gwen," Dawn replied with a unhappy expression on her face as she leaned heavily against the doorframe.

"It's her call Dawn…Wesley came to close to dying and she's scared…we asked them for to much and look where it got us," Angel said with a less than optimistic frown on his face as he turned away from Dawn and looked back at Gwen, who shifted a bit and let out a soft groan.

"They knew the risks going into this Angel; I knew what could happen to me when I started digging into the weird crimes back in L.A.," Kate stated with a serious look on her face before she blanched and hurried out of the room towards the bathroom.

"So what do we do now Angel," Dawn asked with a worried and slightly scared look on her face as she took an awkward step into the room.

"We find the nest and put it out of commission before we come any closer to losing any more of our friends," Angel said with a very serious and almost angry look on his face as he gazed down at Gwen before he turned and stormed off out of the room and down the stairs.

"I can see this isn't going to end well…," Dawn mumbled softly with a sad pout on her face before she turned on her heel and slowly followed after Angel.

*                         *                           *                          *                         *                   *

"Where are you taking us," Callie asked impatiently as she glared at Whistler from her spot in the back seat of the car that Whistler had told them that he had put there for the getaway.  

"Somewhere safe…you never can be to careful with things being like they are…those Initiative guys aren't as quick as they think they are, but they're not stupid, if I took you back to your apartment, the school, or to Wesley and Faith's house they'd find you in no time…sorry but I have to take you somewhere where you'll both be safe and where no one will notice you," Whistler replied with a concerned look on his face as Callie realized that this response was possibly the most that she had ever heard Whistler say at one time that didn't make her want to hit him upside the head with a frying pan.

"And are you going to actually tell us where this safe house is or are we going to find out when we get there," Nick asked with a frustrated edge to his voice as he leaned back in his seat and turned to look over at Callie.

"Well if I told you then it wouldn't be a secret now would it," Whistler replied with an odd smile on his face before he leaned forward and turned the radio up a bit as he continued on down the road.

*                          *                     *                              *                   *             *             

"A Quikoslan nest…hmm…I must say that it's not going to be easy to find, they're notorious for protecting their nests with their lives, and if you try to send them all back through the portal then you'd better be prepared to sacrifice someone, because that's the only know way to close a Quikoslan portal," Lindsey said with a very serious frown on his face as he paced back and forth in the remains of Wesley and Faith's living room.

"We're not losing anyone Lindsey, we came to close with Wesley, luckily he's going to be okay, but we're probably not going to be so lucky next time," Angel stated with a very serious look on his face and tone to his voice as he stood up and placed himself directly in the former lawyers path so that Lindsey would have to respond to his statement.

"Alright Angel…we'll try it your way, but if it doesn't work then I'm going to implement my plan regardless of what you think, so now that still leaves us with the problem of finding the Quikoslan's nest, the sooner the better," Lindsey replied with a cautious smirk on his face as he nodded his head slightly and took a step back before turning to look out of the shattered windows.

"Well then this must be your lucky day pal," Whistler exclaimed with a cheeky smirk on his face as he shuffled his way into the living room and shocked everyone assembled.

"Who the hell…," Lindsey asked with a startled and combative scowl on his face as he spun around and prepared, if necessary, to fight the stranger.

"Whoa…easy there champ, I'm a friend…well of Angel and the pretty lady over there's anyway," Whistler said with a nervous smile on his face as he nodded towards first Angel and then Buffy.

"Whistler…what are you doing here," Buffy asked with a suddenly very worried edge to her voice as Spike looked on in total confusion.

"Helping you save the world…or haven't you been paying attention," Whistler quipped back with a very zealous smile on his face before he walked over and sat down on the couch, but not before brushing off some shards of broken glass.

"Uh…anyone care to give a quick recap for those of us who have no idea about who…," Dawn started to ask with a  pleading look on her face as she held a hand up and looked around the room.

"His name's Whistler, he's a demon that's been sent to do what's necessary to balance the scale between good and evil, no matter the cost…he…," Angel replied with a stone cold serious look on his face as he stared straight at Whistler before he hung his head and looked away.

"And he…I, got Angel to go from surviving on rats to being the champion that we all know and love…but that's not important right now, what is important is getting you white hats in the right position to stop the coming apocalypse and save the world…," Whistler added with an eager smile on his face before he sat down on the couch before continuing.  "Now if you'll all gather around I'll tell you everything that I know…," Whistler said with a serious smile on his face before everyone obliged and the briefing got underway.

END OF CHAPTER 29


	30. The Smeg It Is!

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.**

**CHAPTER 30- ---The Smeg It Is!---***

"You sure this is where he said the nest was pet," Spike asked softly in a whisper as he crouched down behind a row of bushes beside Buffy.

"We're in the right place…but this is just…weird," Buffy replied with a confused and concerned look on her face as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Really…I actually think it kind of makes sense…in a weird way, Anya would love it," Willow added with an odd smirk on her face as she peeked her head around the tree that she was hiding behind and looked down at Spike and Buffy.

"If only to prove her point that bunnies are evil," Xander added with an overly cheesy smile on his face as he peeked his head around the other side of the tree.

"Remind me again why the Whelp is here," Spike grumbled with an annoyed but yet good natured scowl on his face as he shook his head.

"Someone has to look the part of the normal pedestrian in case the N.Y.P.D. comes by," Buffy answered with a nervous shrug of her shoulders before Dawn and Angel appeared out of the darkness and hurried to squat down beside Spike and Buffy.

"Everybody ready," Angel asked with a very serious look on his face as he dropped his knee to the ground and took in an unneeded breath.

"As ready as we're every going to be…you sure about this plan though…I mean this is the big throw-down, we're not going to get another shot at this," Spike stated softly with an unconvinced expression on his face before he drew his sword.

"It doesn't matter Spike, we're out of time, Gwen won't last through the night…," Angel stammered out softly with a worried look on his face before shaking his head and adding, "Are Groo and Oz and the others in position?"  

"Everyone's in position Angel, Gunn and Fred stayed back at Wesley and Faith's house with Gwen, Giles, and Sam, and Anya and Cordelia were taking Kate shopping for baby clothes," Willow replied with a nervous look on her face before she shuddered visibly from the cold.

"Cordelia and Anya shopping together…now there's a scary thought," Buffy adlibbed with an oddly sarcastic smirk on her face before she did her best to suppress a giggle that threatened to overwhelm her.

"This is so cool," Dawn softly squealed with an excited smile on her face as she could barely contain her enthusiasm.

"No it's not Nibblet, this is going to be hell here in a minute," Spike quickly grumbled out with a very serious scowl on his face, eliciting a meager squeak from Dawn in response.

"So the nest is under there right, somewhere down in the sewers," Willow asked softly with a sidelong glance in Spike's direction as she moved to change the subject.

"That's what Whistler said…but I don't see the connection," Angel replied softly with a very serious frown on his face as he shook his head.

"Maybe it's the bunny motif, you know the whole Karrot's pet shop and the rabbit as their logo, Anya always said that bunnies were evil, who knew she was right," Xander guessed with a humorous smile on his face as he stood up and leaned up against the tree.

"Shut up Xander," Spike growled with an angry edge to his voice before everyone fell silent as a patrol car slowly drove by.

*                     *                      *                        *                            *                               *

She stared at the small child in her lap, silently praying that she would not be alone in watching her grow up and mature. Her father was finally resting comfortably in the emergency care unit after the surgery.  Hope's luminous eyes roamed across her mothers face and a frown of concern creased her youthful brow.  Somehow the youngest member of the Wyndam-Pryce family was as astute as her mother about sensing trouble.  

"Ma-ma," Hope stammered out softly with a concerned look in her eyes as she brought both of her hands to rest on her mother's cheeks, both with a bit of tear damaged makeup.  

"I'm okay honey…mommy's okay…bad lie huh," Faith started to reply softly with a fake smile of confidence on her face before she gave up the charade and a sad pout sprang upon her face and her eyes fell to the small daffodil on the front of her daughter's shirt.  Hope's reaction to her mother's pout was her usual expression when either her mother or father became sad; smack them as hard as she could with whatever was available until they cheered up.  "Ow…hey…you're not supposed to," Faith exclaimed loudly with a surprised look on her face as Hope reared back and smacked Faith as hard as she could on the cheek.

"Sucks doesn't it…to have all of that power at your disposal and now at which you most need that power it's totally useless…," Whistler joked with an amused smirk on his face as he slowly and rather awkwardly sat down in one of the chairs next to Faith.

"Who the…," Faith growled with an alarmed look on her face as she instinctively pulled Hope close and turned away, although Hope let out a short laugh and locked her gaze onto Whistler.

"Oh sorry…Whistler's the name, and equalizing the war between good and evil is my game…don't worry I'm not with the bad guys, I'm an old friend of Angel's, I helped set him on the good path all those years ago when he was still just a…," Whistler quickly added with a very proud of himself look on his face as he nodded his head slightly to punctuate each bit of information that he told Faith.

"What are you…," Faith asked softly, still unconvinced, as she quickly rose from her chair and took a couple of steps back and away from Whistler.

"A demon…but not one that you need to worry about," Whistler replied with a sheepish grin on his face before he tried his best to look as non-threatening and innocent as he possibly could.

"Right…that's what they all say…before they try to rip your heart out," Faith stated with a very serious and threatening tone to her voice as she continued to back away from Whistler.

"Geez…no wonder it took you so long to trust anyone enough to marry them…fine you want the truth straight from the horses mouth…okay, here it is…this…all of it…it's a test…not for you or for Wesley…it's a test for Angel, with pretty much the mother of all rewards if he does the right thing…," Whistler said with a nervous but impatient frown on his face as he settle into his chair and stared out of the window.

"You mean he'll shanshu…become human," Faith asked, not believing her ears, as she inadvertently took a step back towards Whistler.

"Not quite that big of a reward gorgeous, but you're close…you know that nasty little curse that's been plaguing him for these past couple of centuries…good…glad to see that there's some brains in that pretty little head of yours…yes-siree, if my pal Angel passes this test that little no happiness clause will be a thing of the past, lucky break eh…," Whistler said with a calm but yet bored look on his face before he smiled and nodded his head as Faith nodded her head in her knowledge of the stipulations of Angel's curse.

"So why haven't you told him yet," Faith asked softly with a look of disbelief on her face as she slowly sat back down in her chair and looked over at Whistler.

"Honey…it doesn't work that way…if I told him what he was fighting for then he'd lose the reward…your boy in there understood it when I told him about it…," Whistler joked with a pleased look on his face as he nodded his head towards the room where Wesley lay recuperating after surgery, not caring at the confused and shocked look on Faith's face.

*                       *                       *                            *                         *                          *

"Remind me again why I'm the one that has to wear this thing, it smells like an elderly male yak took a leak in both pockets," Spike grumbled with an annoyed look on his face as he held up the burlap coat in front of him and scrutinized it closely.  

"Because Spike, it'll shield you from being discovered until you find the portal…at least that's what it's supposed to do," Willow replied with a nervous and slightly hesitant smile on her face before she shrugged her shoulders and stared down at her feet.

"Why does that not fill me with confidence," Spike mused with a very sarcastic look on his face before he shrugged his shoulders and sighed deeply.  

"Just put the damn thing on already, we're running out of time," Buffy growled with an angry expression plastered across her face before her countenance softened at the hurt look in Spike's eyes.  Reluctantly Spike slipped the coat on and took his sword from Angel and headed towards the tunnel entrance.

"Does he stand a chance in hell of actually getting to the portal before he's found out," Angel asked Willow softly after Spike was out of earshot.

"Not a chance in hell, but I didn't have the heart to tell him, b…but don't worry Buffy, we'll all charge in well before that happens…really," Willow mumbled her reply softly at first before she caught the combined furious and terrified look that Buffy was giving her with her eyes.

"We'd better Will…," Buffy said with a very serious look on her face as she got a better grip on her own sword before she slowly crossed the street and headed after Spike.

"How many are down there," Dawn asked with a readily prevalent amount of fear in her voice as she stepped up beside Willow and Angel.

"There's no way of knowing Dawnie…but if we stay out here talking about it all night we're never going to find out," Willow replied with a hesitant look on her face before she turned and looked up at Angel for his take on the situation at hand.

"Let's just do this and get back to Gwen," Angel added with a frustrated scowl on his face before he shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

"That guy has a one track mind," Dawn whispered with a slightly angry tone to her voice as she crossed her arms and stared off after Angel.

"Tell me about it…come on Dawn, let's go," Willow whispered back with an odd smirk on her face before she fell into step behind Angel.

Spike entered the tunnel and slowly made his way through the darkness until he came to a door.  After rapping on it several times in a code that Sam had given him the door swung open to reveal one of the fire breathing reptilian demons standing in the torchlight, not looking very happy to be there.  Spike flinched as he readied for the attack to come, but nothing happened.  After several seconds of staring out into the darkness the demon started to slam the door shut, but Spike dashed through the doorway and plunged the tip of his sword through the demons chest, not stopping until he found the heart.  After several seemingly eternal moments of eerie silence the demon gargled up a mouthful of blood before slumping to the ground in a pool of its own blood.

"Good job Spike," Buffy whispered softly with a slightly relieved look on her face before she leaned in and kissed Spike softly.

"Thanks…but this is far from over and it'll only get harder from here on out, let's hope that Sam didn't double cross us and that the Whelp has the van ready for our escape," Spike replied with a serious and slightly scared look on his face before he disappeared into the darkness.

*                         *                         *                         *                     *                      *

"How's she doing," Sam asked with a worried look on her face as she slowly paced around the room.

"Not good…her fever's gotten worse…and the blankets aren't keeping her very warm anymore," Fred answered with a very nervous look on her face as she looked up from her position beside Gwen.  After the group had left to fight the fire breathing demons and end the apocalypse before it got started Giles had laid a few blankets and pillows on the couch in Wesley and Faith's living room and laid a feverish Gwen on it before wrapping her up in the blankets.  

"She doesn't have much longer left…if Angel and the others…," Giles began to say with a concerned frown on his face before he let his voice trail off as he stared at the quick repair job that Xander and Gunn had done on the windows.

"Angel will make it back old man…he always made it…not matter what I…or Wolfram and Hart through in his path he always seemed to find a way to foil our plans…over and over again," Lindsey quipped with a sarcastic and almost nostalgic smile on his face as he reclined in Wesley's chair and sipped a cup of tea while his bodyguards stood nearby.

"Let's hope that your assessment of Angel of old rings true to this more current scenario," Giles added with a very grim and serious expression on his face as he turned away from the window to glare down at Lindsey like he had glared at Buffy at times. 

"Why…don't you have any faith in his abilities…," Lindsey joked with an amused smile on his face as he snickered a bit at the flustered look on Giles' face.

"I have faith that Angel will try as hard as he can to do what is right, and the others right along with him, I'm simply trying to remain objective and not get to emotional before I know anything," Giles stated with a serious frown on his face as he walked away from the window and back towards the couch, not even glancing at Lindsey as he passed.

*                            *                          *                   *                         *                        *

Spike stared straight ahead, not completely being able to comprehend exactly what he was seeing.  Sure he had seen portals before, but most of them had been of the sort that were small in nature, opened and closed very quickly, and were positioned over a fixed position or point.  But this portal looked to be big enough to allow for an army to pass through easily.  So far the magically protective garment had done its job admirably, but by this point in time Spike had almost become sick because of the stench.  Buffy and the others behind him had taken care of the demons that they had met along the way, mostly by letting Spike create a diversion and then when the demon wasn't looking Angel or Buffy would run it through with a sword or decapitate it.  Willow had kept to the back to protect Dawn, who had been about to throw a tantrum when Spike had whispered into her ear that afterwards he'd take her to some of his old haunts, places that he was sure that Buffy would be furious if she ever knew about them visiting.  Oz and Groo had stayed at the entrance, trying their best to look like normal citizens simply conversing on the street corner while Xander had stayed across the street in a large van, keys in the ignition, and weapons at hand, ready for anything.

"Bloody…," Spike gasped out in a whisper before he remembered where he was and quickly stopped himself from finishing the statement of awe.  He watched as two heavily cloaked individuals walked out of a tunnel in the back and towards the portal.  Because of how heavily they were cloaked Spike couldn't discern whether they were human or demon, but either way Spike's only hope was that neither had some type of armor on, hidden beneath the folds of their robes.  He almost jumped when he felt a lithe hand on his shoulder but stopped when he felt Buffy's hot breath on the back of his neck and his ears picked up Angel's slightly more labored movements, Willow shuffling her feet and the clink of the change in her pocket, not to mention Dawn's own sharp intake of breath at the sight of what was transpiring in the room.

"What do we do now," Dawn whispered softly under her breath as she leaned in under Angel's arm and over Willow's shoulder.

"We wait until the right moment…and not speak," Angel angrily whispered back softly, being as careful as he could to keep the demons from hearing him.  Dawn started to protest but stopped and had to bite her bottom lip to keep from growling in both pain and anger as Buffy grabbed her arm and dug her fingernails in, drawing blood.  Spike took a step back so that Angel was on one side and Buffy was on the other before Willow took over the conversation and spoke to them through her telepathy.

"Okay guys here's the plan…Dawnie you stay here with me and protect our escape route, Angel you and Buffy swing around to either side, while Spike when I give the signal you'll sneak up to the portal and try to close it, I'm sorry but after the portal is closed the release of energy will in effect short circuit the magic that lets you stay invisible to the demons and you won't be hidden any longer, in other words they'll be able to see you so don't dilly dally," Willow said through her telepathy with a very serious look on her face as she looked each of the others in the eye.

"How long are you going to set the timer for, there's enough TNT in there to destroy an entire city block…," Angel asked through the mindlink with a concerned scowl on his face as he half looked back over his shoulder at Willow.  

"Really…because I…uh…you see I kind of magically…enhanced it a bit…," Willow stammered out her reply with a fearful look of regret on her face.

"How much is a bit Red…," Spike asked with a very demanding scowl on his face as he fully turned back around and glared at the witch.

"Well…I'm really not sure, but needless to say it'll be enough to do the job," Willow replied back with a nervous smile on her face through the glares thrown her way.

"So in other words after Will sets the timer run like the wind and hope that Xander's got the motor running and the streets are empty…or else we're all toast," Buffy jumped in quickly with a sarcastic but yet very serious look on her face before she shrugged her shoulders and smiled innocently.

"Pretty much…whatever happens just remember that once I set the timer I can't shut it off again and we'll only have five minutes to get back up to the surface and a safe distance away," Willow added with a very serious look on her face before noticing that Dawn looked as if she were about ready to throw up.

"But it took like ten minutes for us to find out way down here…," Spike asked back through the telepathic link with a demanding tone to his voice that showed his displeasure.

"We'll think of something Spike, we always…do…," Angel started to say back through the telepathic link before every scaly head turned in their direction, all gazes locked onto them.

"Intruders…kill them…," A heavily robed reptilian demon shouted loudly as it pointed a heavily scaled and clawed hand at Spike and the others.

"Shit…," Buffy muttered softly under her breath before the onslaught began.

END OF CHAPTER 30

*--Refers back to the last new episode of Red Dwarf that I've seen in which at the end of the episode there was a tagline that read…The End…then the screen went blank and the title to this chapter appeared on the screen, so I just found it fitting to use it as this chapters title.  Next chapter is the epilogue.


	31. Epilogue

**FUTURE IMPERFECT**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Hope, and Callie.**

**EPILOGUE**

Many years later…

A large house in southern California…

"Ah come on Grandpa…tell us how it ends…," The lithe blonde asked as she slowly ran the comb through her younger sister's hair.

"Why…I thought that you hated this story…you said that I've told it so many times that you know it by heart…," The old man asked with a slightly confused frown on his face as he ran his hand through his once dark brown locks that were now only speckled with spots of gray in a snowy field of white.

"I do…but Gina doesn't…so tell us…did Angel and the others blow up the portal and make it out in time before the bomb went off," The blonde asked with a sly smile on her face and a slight wink towards her grandfather.

"Yes Dana…they all got out…well except for Angel, he stayed behind to make sure that everything went off without a hitch, he sacrificed himself to save the world, Spike had to throw Buffy over his shoulder to get her to leave," The old man replied with a somber frown on his face before being interrupted.

"But the story does have a happy ending honey, because of his sacrifice Angel got the reward promised him by Whistler and later became human and lived happily ever after with the woman that he loved," An old woman said softly with a daring smirk on her face as she slowly walked into the room and sat down on the couch, not batting an eyelash at the glare that she received from her husband.

"That's a nice story grandpa…," Gina squealed with a delighted look on her face as she clapped her hands together and chuckled.

"Oh it's much more than a story pet…it's the truth," William said coolly from the doorway before he couldn't help but laugh at the thought of it all.

"Shut up William…," Buffy grumbled with an angry scowl on her face as she as she briefly turned her head away from watching the pumpkin pie in the oven.

"Make me…," William growled softly with a mischievous glint in his eye and grin on his face as he poked his head back around the corner into the kitchen.  Through the years Buffy's once silken golden hair had turned first gray and then white, her skin had sagged a bit, but the fierce will and light that had been in her eyes from the start was still there.  William had long since stopped calling himself Spike, though at certain times Buffy or Angel would still using his old moniker.  The children and grandchildren knew nothing of the fact that the stories were actually true, rather than simply old made up stories by their grandfather to entertain them.

"Give it up William, or else I won't let you win anymore," Liam joked with an amused smirk on his face as he eyes his old grandchilde from across the room.

"Hey now…I win because I'm better than you are…you're so blind that you can't even see the hole, let alone the bloody ball, it's not my fault that half of your clubs end up in the water hazards," William quickly declared back, a small fire in his eyes, as he took a step into the living room.

"That's enough…both of you, this is supposed to be a holiday, and I won't have it ruined by the two of you dredging up long dead rivalries," Gwen said with a very determined scowl on her face as she stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to help Buffy cook dinner.

"He started it…," Both Liam and William muttered with looks of boredom on their faces before Dana broke the silence.

"So when's everybody getting here, aunt Buffy's been going crazy trying to get dinner ready…," Dana asked with a worried look on her face as she finished combing Gina's hair and turned her around so that she could get a good look at her work.

"Well Wesley and Faith can't make it this year, they're in Australia attending your cousin Amy's wedding, Xander and Anya are to busy with work but said that they send their Thanksgiving best wishes, Fred and Gunn are spending the holidays in Texas, Nick and Callie are God knows where, Willow and Oz are helping with the relief effort in Europe, Groo and Kate are…well they're visiting his side of the family this year, Cordelia and Connor are stranded in Alaska because of bad weather, Dawn should be here anytime now…," Liam answered through a tired yawn as he leaned back in his chair and gazed over at William as the latter slumped into another chair.

"But don't worry…I'm sure your cousin Victoria will be here, but just remember now, I don't want any of you going out after dark…the streets aren't safe anymore," William declared with a very parent like frown of displeasure on his face as he pointed to Dana.  

"Why isn't she with her family in Australia at the wedding," Dana asked with a confused look on her face as she slightly tilted her head to one side.

"Because…she uh…has work to do here, she and your cousin Ann do very important work…," Liam started to say with a nervous look on his face as he looked to William for help on the matter.

"What work, I'm as old as they are…and I don't know how important of work a seventeen year old could do…I mean you barely let me go anywhere after dark…," Dana grumbled loudly with an unhappy frown on her face as she crossed her arms and glared at the floor.

"It's for your own good Dana, like William said, the streets aren't safe anymore…," Liam said with a sympathetic tone to his voice as he tried to keep from starting an argument with his eldest granddaughter.  

"Hmpf…like they were ever safe to begin with…," William muttered softly under his breath with an odd smile on his face before being drawn back to the kitchen by Buffy's voice.

*                            *                             *                        *                       *                         *

"Look at them Ms. Edith…they're having entirely to much fun…they didn't pass go, they didn't collect their two hundred dollars…bad dollies…bad…," Dru quipped with her usual scolding tone of voice as she shook her head at the assembly of dolls that lined one of the walls of her new crypt.  

"You know what…you're one crazy bitch," Victoria joked with a cocky smirk on her face as she kept trying to break free of her restraints.

"Naughty little girl…you've been a very naughty girl, killing my champion…," Dru growled with a frustrated and angry look on her face as she twirled a chocolate curl or two of the slayers long locks around her index finger.  With the beauty of her grandmother in her youth and nearly the height of her grandfather in his prime Victoria Wyndam-Pryce was every inch the successor to the slayer legacy that her grandmother had started.

"Why don't you just let us go…if you do then we might not come back here and stake your ass later tonight," Ann asked with a confidant look on her face as she also continued in her efforts to free herself from her restraints.  Though easily shorter than her best friend, Ann Elizabeth Summers reminded everyone that met her of her grandmother.  Like Victoria Ann had been lucky enough, or unlucky enough depending on her viewpoint, had continued on the slayer line that her grandmother had started.  The two had been tracking Drusilla and her cohorts for days, hoping to once and for all put an end to the sad chapter of their family's lives and start a new day for themselves.  But they hadn't been quick enough and had gotten caught.  Now they were at the mercy of the insane vampire and her assembled host of vampires and demons.

"No…letting you go wouldn't do…wouldn't do at all…now I must go…my revenge is almost at hand…," Drusilla cackled with a far away look in her eyes before she turned on her heel and left the room.  The last sight that Victoria and Ann saw before their worlds went black was the fist of a large Fyarl demon streaking towards them.  

END OF EPILOGUE

P.S.-If this epilogue is confusing it's supposed to be that it's set years after the end of Future Imperfect and the whole time Angel has been telling his young granddaughters the story of when he saved Gwen from the poison and passed the test.  The world is a slightly darker place than it was in Buffy's day and Victoria and Ann have picked up the challenge of defending the world from the forces of darkness. The old Scooby gang and the Angel Investigations gang have for the most part gone their separate ways except they still get together on special occasions.   I tried to end this story in a new and different way, only the reviews will tell me if I've succeeded or failed in my attempt…

Question Time:  Should I write a sequel to this or just leave it as it is…

Thank you to all who have read and reviewed this story.


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